[2] The term "canola" denotes a group of rapeseed cultivars that were bred to have very low levels of erucic acid and which are especially prized for use as human and animal food.

[10] B. napus can be distinguished from B. nigra by the upper leaves which do not clasp the stem, and from B. rapa by its smaller petals which are less than 13 mm (1⁄2 in) across.

[18] In Northern Ireland, B. napus and B. rapa are recorded as escapes in roadside verges and waste ground.

[19] Crops from the genus Brassica, including rapeseed, were among the earliest plants to be widely cultivated by humankind as early as 10,000 years ago.

[12] Rapeseed oil is predominantly cultivated in its winter form in most of Europe and Asia due to the requirement of vernalization to start the process of flowering.

It generally flowers in late spring with the process of pod development and ripening occurring over a period of 6–8 weeks until midsummer.

[20] Winter rape is less susceptible to crop failure as it is more vigorous than the summer variety and can compensate for damage done by pests.

[21] Spring rapeseed is cultivated in Canada, northern Europe and Australia as it is not winter-hardy and does not require vernalization.

[32] The main diseases of the winter rapeseed crop are canker, light leaf spot (Pyrenopeziza brassicae), alternaria- and sclerotinia- stem rots.

Canker causes leaf spotting, and premature ripening and weakening of the stem during the autumn-winter (fall-winter) period.

[33] Oilseed rape cannot be planted in close rotation with itself due to soil-borne diseases such as sclerotinia, verticillium wilt and clubroot.

[34] Transexpression of a class II chitinase from barley (Hordeum vulgare) and a type I ribosome inactivating protein into B. juncea produces a large fungal resistance effect.

[34] Chhikara et al., 2012[35] finds that this combination of transgenes reduces hyphal growth by 44% and delays disease presentation in Alternaria brassicicola of juncea.

[37] The brassica pod midge (Dasineura brassicae), cabbage seed weevil (Ceutorhynchus assimilis), cabbage stem weevil (Ceutorhynchus pallidactylus), cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala), rape stem weevil (Ceutorhynchus napi) and pollen beetles are the primary insect pests that prey on the oilseed rape crop in Europe.

[41] Specific locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) was applied to B. napus by Geng et al., in 2016, revealing the genetics of the past domestication process, providing data for genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and being used to construct a high-density linkage map.

[49] A genetically modified variety of rapeseed was developed in 1998, engineered for glyphosate tolerance, and is considered to be the most disease- and drought-resistant canola.

Monsanto sought compensation from farmers found to have crops of this cultivar in their fields without paying a license fee.

However, these farmers claimed that the pollen containing the Roundup Ready gene was blown into their fields and crossed with unaltered canola.

[51] In a closely followed legal battle, the Supreme Court of Canada found in favor of Monsanto's patent infringement claim for unlicensed growing of Roundup Ready in its 2004 ruling on Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser, but also ruled that Schmeiser was not required to pay any damages.

The case garnered international controversy, as a court-sanctioned legitimization for the global patent protection of genetically modified crops.

World production was thus expected to trend further upward between 2005 and 2015 as biodiesel content requirements in Europe go into effect.

Because of anticipated changes to climate, a 2018 study predicted that rapeseed would become an unreliable source of oil for biofuels.

[22] Rapeseed has a high melliferous potential (produces substances that can be collected by insects) and is a main forage crop for honeybees.

[24] Monofloral rapeseed honey has a whitish or milky yellow color, peppery taste and, due to its fast crystallization time, a soft-solid texture.

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"Development of a 63K SNP Array for Cotton and High-Density Mapping of Intraspecific and Interspecific Populations of Gossypium spp".