Cruciferae Diversity Workshop

The Cruciferae family which contains about 3500 speceis and 350 genera, is one of the ten most economically important plant families. The tribe Brassiceae is one of the 13-19 tribes within the family. The Brassicas display enormous diversity and and are used as a source of oil, vegetables, condiments, and fodder. An understanding of the genetic potential of wild relatives of the crop species of Brassica and allied genera is critical for the establishment of long-term breeding programs of these crops. Wild relatives possess a number of useful agronomic traits which could be incorporated into breeding programs. Many of these wild species have potential value as new crops, as sources of industirial oils, condiments, and diverse products.

Program

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Session I: Biodiversity and comparative genomics/cytogenetics

Chair: Suzanne Warwick
Ihsan Al-Shehbaz, Missouri Botanical Garden
Cruciferae family: Diversity, systematics, and phylogeny
Chris Pires, University of Missouri-Columbia
Cruciferae: Comparative genomics and cytogenetics

Session II: New Crop/sources of new agronomic traits

Chair: Alison Ferrie
Anders Carlsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Crambe: a novel oil crop platform for industrial uses
Claude Caldwell, Nova Scotia Agricultural College
Camelina: what is old becomes new

Session III: Sources of new traits; new agronomic/industrial non-food use and applications

Chair: Isobel Parkin
Suzanne Warwick, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa
Cruciferae: Wild species as sources of economic traits
Wilf Keller, National Research Council, Plant Biotechnology Institute
Wrap-up