Although oilseed rape has become one of the most important oil crops in Europe, little is known regarding the viability of its seed under conditions of long-term storage. We report here an examination of oilseed rape seed longevity performed on a set of 42 accessions housed at the German ex situ genebank at IPK, Gatersleben. A comparison of germination between the accessions stored for 26 years showed that viability was in part genetically determined, since it ranged between 42 and 98%. An attempt was made to define the genetic basis of viability by subjecting a mapping population of doubled haploids to three artificial ageing treatments. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were detected on six chromosomes: N6, N7, N8, N15, N16 and N18. The chromosomal locations of these QTL were compared with their syntenic regions in Arabidopsis thaliana in order to explore what genes might underlie genetic variation for longevity.
