MAGIC : Developing a Community Resource for Oilseed Rape
JIC and Rothamsted Research (RRes) are working together to develop an oilseed rape (OSR) MAGIC (multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross) population.
Plant populations produced by crossing distinct parent lines are a valuable resource for investigating the genetics of quantitative phenotypic traits. They are a useful mapping tool, exhibiting high levels of genetic diversity and recombination.
These populations are used by researchers for understanding the genetic control of complex traits such as flowering time. Breeders use such populations for identifying genetic markers for use in breeding programmes to incorporate valuable new or improved characteristics into crops.
Multi-parent populations provides an increased genetic diversity compared with populations created through more traditional biparental crosses involving only two parents.
The MAGIC population which we are developing will be a valuable resource enabling us to explore the genetic causes of variation in traits such as flowering time, seed number, oil composition and vigour. We will make the MAGIC population available as a community resource, to both public and private sector collaborators for trait analysis and screening.
Generating Our MAGIC Population
Our eight-parent MAGIC population will be developed over five years. Work began in 2022 and it is anticipated that the population will be ready for screening in 2027-8.
Parents were selected because they displayed variability in traits related to vegetative growth, reproduction, disease resistance and seed production.
Trait Analysis
To understand and quantify the variation within the population under development, we are growing the original 8 parental lines (known as founders) in replicated field trials at both JIC and RRes. The traits that we will be measuring can be viewed in the link below.
If you are interested in measuring additional traits on our parental lines, we would welcome participation from you and anyone in the OSR research community. Please contact Teresa.Penfield@jic.ac.uk.
