Genetic variation of tocopherol content in a germplasm collection of Brassica napus L.

The genetic variation for tocopherol contents was investigated in a very divergent collection of 87 winter rapeseed genotypes grown in the greenhouse and in two years in the field. Genotypic and environmental effects were highly significant for alpha-, gamma- and total tocopherol contents and the alpha-/gamma-tocopherol ratio. Field and greenhouse environments differed significantly ( p < 0.001) for tocopherol traits, with greenhouse means up to 19% higher than field means. Alpha-tocopherol content ranged from 63 to 157 mg kg(-1) seed, gamma-tocopherol content from 114 to 211 mg kg(-1) seed, total tocopherol content from 182 to 367 mg kg(-1) seed, and the alpha-/gamma-tocopherol contents ratio from 0.36 to 1.23. The resynthesized lines often have a remarkably low alpha-tocopherol content and consequently a low alpha-/gamma-tocopherol contents ratio. The lines with altered fatty acid composition displayed the highest variation for both tocopherol content and composition. No significant differences were observed among groups with different seed quality types [00], [0+] and [++]. Total tocopherol content was not correlated with the alpha-/gamma-tocopherol ratio, indicating that total tocopherol content is independent from tocopherol composition. Alpha- and gamma-tocopherol contents were also not correlated. Gamma-tocopherol contents showed a significant positive correlation with oil content ( r = 0.34**).