Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T19:50:46.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Harvest Loss and Seed Bank Longevity of Flax (Linum usitatissimum) Implications for Seed-Mediated Gene Flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jody E. Dexter ,
Amit J. Jhala ,
Rong-Cai Yang ,
Melissa J. Hills ,
Randall J. Weselake  and
Linda M. Hall
Jody E. Dexter
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada
Amit J. Jhala
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada
Rong-Cai Yang
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada
Melissa J. Hills
Affiliation:
Grant MacEwan University, P.O. Box 1796, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 2P2, Canada
Randall J. Weselake
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada
Linda M. Hall*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5, Canada
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Flax is a minor oilseed crop in Canada largely exported to the European Union for use as a source of industrial oil and feed ingredient. While flax could be genetically engineered (GE) to enhance nutritional value, the adoption of transgenic technologies threatens conventional flax market acceptability. Harvest seed loss of GE crops and the persistence of GE crop volunteers in the seed bank are major factors influencing transgene persistence. Ten commercial fields in Alberta, Canada, were sampled after harvesting conventional flax in 2006 and 2007, and flax seed density and viability were determined. Additionally, artificial seed banks were established at two locations in Alberta in 2005 and 2006 to quantify persistence of five conventional flax cultivars with variability in seed coat color (yellow or brown) and α-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3cisΔ9,13,15) content (3 to 55%) at three soil depths (0, 3, or 10 cm). Harvest methods influenced seed loss and distribution, > 10-fold more seed was distributed beneath windrows than between them. Direct harvested fields had more uniform seed distribution but generally higher seed losses. The maximum yield loss was 44 kg ha−1 or 2.3% of the estimated crop yield. Seed loss and the viability of flax seed were significantly influenced by year, presumably because weather conditions prior to harvest influenced the timing and type of harvest operations. In artificial seed bank studies, seed coat color or ALA content did not influence persistence. Flax seed viability rapidly declined in the year following burial with < 1% remaining midsummer in the year following burial but there were significant differences between years. In three of four locations, there was a trend of longer seed persistence at the deepest burial depth (10 cm). The current study predicts that seed-mediated gene flow may be a significant factor in transgene persistence and a source of adventitious presence.

Keywords

Flax, Linum usitatissimum LHarvest losspersistencesoil seed bankvolunteer flax
Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Information
Weed Science , Volume 59 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 61 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Current address: Genome Prairie, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada.

Current address: Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.

References

Literature Cited

Anonymous, . 2006. Growing Flax: Production, Management and Diagnostic Guide. Flax Council of Canada. http://www.flaxcouncil.ca/english/index.jsp?p=growing. Accessed: October 4, 2010.Google Scholar
Anonymous, . 2010a. Flax Council of Canada. GMO Flax Update 10 January 2010. http://www.flaxcouncil.ca/files/web/GMO%20Flax%20Update%2020%20Jan%202010%20Brazil.pdf. Accessed: January 14, 2010.Google Scholar
Anonymous, . 2010b. Statistics Canada Field Crop Reporting Series. Preliminary Estimates of Principal Field Crops Areas. Catalogue no. 22–002-X. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/22-002-x/22-002-x2010004-eng.pdf. Accessed: July 20, 2010.Google Scholar
Beckie, H. J. and Hall, L. M. 2008. Simple to complex: modelling crop pollen-mediated gene flow. Plant Sci. 175:615–628.Google Scholar
Bedard, D. 2009. Deregistered GM flax pops up in Europe. Alberta Farmer Express. http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000340642&PC=FBC&issue=09102009. Accessed: September 18, 2009.Google Scholar
[CFIA] Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 2001. Determination of the safety of the Crop Development Centre's ‘CDC Triffid’, a flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) variety tolerant to soil residues of triasulfuron and metsulfuron-methyl. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/bio/dd/dd9824e.shtml. Accessed: February 15, 2007.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. M. 1984. Effect of seeding rate and time of harvest on losses in oats in windrower/combine and direct combine harvesting systems. Can. J. Plant Sci. 64:31–35.Google Scholar
Clarke, J. M. 1985. Harvesting losses of spring wheat in windrower/combine and direct combine harvesting systems. Agron. J. 77:13–17.Google Scholar
Comstock, V. E., Ford, J. H., and Beard, B. H. 1963. Association among seed and agronomic characteristics in isogenic lines of flax. Crop Sci. 3:172.Google Scholar
Conn, J. S., Beattie, K. L., and Blanchard, A. 2006. Seed viability and dormancy of 17 weed species after 19.7 years of burial in Alaska. Weed Sci. 54:464–470.Google Scholar
Culbertson, J. O., Comstock, V. E., and Frederiksen, R. A. 1960. Further studies on effect of seed coat color on agronomic and chemical characters and seed injury in flax. Agron. J. 52:210–212.Google Scholar
Culbertson, J. O. and Kommedahl, T. 1956. The effect of seed coat color upon agronomic and chemical characters and seed injury in flax. Agron. J. 48:25–28.Google Scholar
Devos, Y., Demont, M., and Sanvido, O. 2009. Coexistence of genetically modified (GM) and non-GM crops in the European Union. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 29:11–30.Google Scholar
Dexter, J. E., Jhala, A. J., Hills, M. J., Cai-Yang, R., Topinka, A. K., Weselake, R. J., and Hall, L. M. 2010a. Emergence and persistence of volunteer flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) in western Canadian cropping systems. Agron. J. 103:1321–1328.Google Scholar
Dexter, J. E., Jhala, A. J., Hills, M. J., Yang, R. C., Topinka, K. C., Weselake, R. J., and Hall, L. M. 2010b. Quantification and mitigation of adventitious presence of volunteer flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) in wheat. Weed Sci. 58:80–88.Google Scholar
Dillman, A. C. 1938. Natural crossing in flax. Agron. J. 30:279–286.Google Scholar
Dribnenki, J. C. P., McEachern, S. F., Chen, Y., Green, A. G., and Rashid, K. Y. 2003. Linola 2047 low linolenic flax. Can. J. Plant Sci. 83:81–83.Google Scholar
Green, A. G. 1986. A mutant genotype of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) containing very low levels of linolenic acid in its seed oil. Can. J. Plant Sci. 66:499–503.Google Scholar
Green, A. G., Chen, Y., Singh, S. P., and Dribnenki, J. C. P. 2008. Flax. Pages 199–226 in Kole, C. and Hall, T., eds. Compendium of Transgenic Crops. Transgenic Oilseed Crops. Chicester, UK Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Gulden, R. H., Shirtliffe, S. J., and Thomas, A. G. 2003a. Harvest losses of canola (Brassica napus) cause large seed bank inputs. Weed Sci. 51:83–86.Google Scholar
Gulden, R. H., Shirtliffe, S. J., and Thomas, A. G. 2003b. Secondary seed dormancy prolongs persistence of volunteer canola in western Canada. Weed Sci. 51:904–913.Google Scholar
Gulden, R. H., Thomas, A. G., and Shirtliffe, S. J. 2004. Secondary dormancy, temperature, and burial depth regulate seed bank dynamics in canola. Weed Sci. 52:382–388.Google Scholar
Jhala, A. J., Raatz, L., Dexter, J. E., and Hall, L. M. 2010. Adventitious presence: volunteer flax (Linum usitatissimum) in herbicide-resistant canola (Brassica napus). Weed Technol. 24:244–252.Google Scholar
Jhala, A. J., Weselake, R. J., and Hall, L. M. 2009. Genetically engineered flax (Linum usitatissimum L.): potential benefits, risks, regulations and mitigation of transgene movement. Crop Sci. 49:1943–1954.Google Scholar
Lay, C. L. and Dybing, C. D. 1989. Linseed. Pages 416–430 in Robbelen, G., Downey, R. K., and Ashri, A., eds. Oil Crops of the World. New York McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Leeson, J. Y., Thomas, A. G., Hall, L. M., Brenzil, C. A., Andrews, T., Brown, K. R., and Van Acker, R. C. 2005. Prairie Weed Surveys of Cereal, Oilseed and Pulse Crops from the 1970s to the 2000s. Saskatoon, SK, Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre Weed Survey Series Publication 05-1CD:395.Google Scholar
Leon, R. G. and Owen, M. D. K. 2004. Artificial and natural seed banks differ in seedling emergence patterns. Weed Sci. 52:531–537.Google Scholar
Lopez-Granados, F. and Lutman, P. J. W. 1998. Effect of environmental conditions on the dormancy and germination of volunteer oilseed rape seed (Brassica napus). Weed Sci. 46:419–423.Google Scholar
McHughen, A. 1989. Agrobacterium mediated transfer of chlorsulfuron resistance to commercial flax cultivars. Plant Cell Rep. 8:445–449.Google Scholar
McHughen, A. 2002. Transgenic Linseed Flax. New York Marcel Dekker. 899 p.Google Scholar
McPherson, M. A., Yang, R. C., Good, A. G., Nielson, R. L., and Hall, L. M. 2009. Potential for seed-mediated gene flow in agroecosystems from transgenic safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) intended for plant molecular farming. Transgenic Res. 18:281–299.Google Scholar
Nielson, R. L., Yang, R., Hall, L. M., Harker, K. N., McPherson, M. A., and O'Donovan, J. T. 2009. Seed-mediated gene flow in wheat: seed bank longevity in western Canada. Weed Sci. 57:124–132.Google Scholar
Rowland, G. G. 1991. An EMS-induced low-linolenic acid mutant in McGregor flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). Can. J. Plant Sci. 71:393–396.Google Scholar
SAS Institute. 2007. SAS/STAT User's Guide: Statistics. Version. 9.1 ed. Cary, NC SAS Institute. 956 p.Google Scholar
Schwartz, M. W., Iverson, L. R., Prasad, A. M., Matthews, S. N., and O'Connor, R. J. 2006. Predicting extinctions as a result of climate change. Ecology. 87:1611–1615.Google Scholar
Thomas, A. G. 1985. Weed survey systems used in Saskatchewan for cereal and oilseed crops. Weed Sci. 33:34–43.Google Scholar
Wall, D. A. and Smith, M. A. H. 1999. Control of volunteer flax in wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci. 79:463–468.Google Scholar