Effects of environmental conditions on winter rapeseed cultivars and relationship between crown cell membrane stability and seed yield quality and quantity

Four field experiments were conducted to determin relationship between crown cell membrane stability (CCMS) and seed yield quantity and quality of winter rapeseed cultivars. Experiments were carried out in Zanjan, Hamedan, Shahrekord and Karaj simultaneous1y, in years 1998 and 1999. The treatments consisted of 24 winter rapeseed cultivars and four cold stations. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used. The influences of different low temperatures at the primary stages of rape seed life from germination to resetting stage (4-5 leaf stage) were studied by determination of crown cell membrane stability .The results showed that the cold tolerance of rosettes of some cultivars correlated significantly with oil contents of seeds, but not with seed yield. It was cleared that cultivars producing the highest seed yield had not necessarily the best crown cell membrane stability at rosette stage.