Development and application of molecular markers for TSW (thousand-seed weight) related gene BnaGRF7.C02 in Brassica napus

Brassica napus L. (rapeseed) is one of the most important oil crops with large cultivated area in China. Seed size and seed weight play crucial roles for yield and harvest. In this study, a type of 15 bp-deletion in BnaGRF7.C02 coding region was identified through sequence alignment of BnaGRF7.C02 in 42 rapeseed varieties, and association analysis indicated that the 15 bp-deletion was related to the rapeseed Thousand-Seed Weight (TSW) phenotype. Furthermore, we developed two InDel markers to identify this 15 bp InDel. The tissue-specific expression patterns showed that BnaGRF7.C02 prominently expressed in the late stage of seed development. These findings may assist in InDel markers-based breeding efforts to select higher TWS varieties and improve the crop yield of B. napus.