LAUSR

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Camelina (Camelina sativa, Brassicaceae) has attracted interest in recent years as a novel oilseed crop, and an increasing number of studies have sought to enhance camelina's yield potential or to modify the composition of its oil. The ability of camelina to cross hybridize with its wild relative, C. microcarpa, is of interest as a potential source of genetic variability for the crop. METHODS Manual crosses were performed between the crop C. sativa and its wild relative C. microcarpa: F1 and F2 progenies were obtained. Cytology was used to study meiosis in the parents and F1s and to evaluate pollen viability. Flow cytometry was used to estimate nuclear DNA amounts, and FAME analysis was used to evaluate the lipid composition of F3 seeds. KEY RESULTS The F1 plants obtained by interspecific crosses presented severe abnormalities at meiosis, low pollen viability, and produced very few F2 seeds. The F2s presented diverse phenotypes, in some cases severe developmental abnormalities. Many F2s were aneuploid. F2s produced highly variable numbers of F3 seeds, and certain F3 seeds presented atypical lipid profiles. CONCLUSIONS Considering the meiotic abnormalities observed and the probability of aneuploidy in the F2 plants, the C. microcarpa accessions used in this study would be difficult to use as sources of genetic variability for the crop.