Euphytica 111: 151, 2000.
151
Book announcement
C. Gómez-Campo (Ed.). 1999. Biology of Brassica
coenospecies. Developments in Genetics and Breed-
ing 4. Elsevier. 500 pp. ISBN 0-444-50278-5. NLG
370.00. EURO 167.90, USD 188.00
This book deals with domesticated species of the Cru-
ciferae (Brassicaceae) and their wild relatives which
belong to the genera Brassica, Raphanus, Sinapis and
seven others. Together they form the Brassica coeno-
species, the subject of this book. A coenospecies ‘is
not a taxonomic category but a cytogenetical concept
whose taxonomic counterpart could consist of a group
of “allies” or “relatives” to a given taxon’ (p. 3). How-
ever, the definition in Glossary of Genetics, referring
to its first author Turesson (1922) does not include the
words ‘could consist’. It is cited as ‘a group of in-
dividuals of common evolutionary origin comprising
more than one taxonomic species.’ It is further stated
that hybridization between coenospecies rarely takes
place and any hybrid is sterile.
The present book is divided into 14 chapters, all
of interest to breeders of brassica-, raphanus-, sinapis-
and related crops. The chapters Taxonomy,andOri-
gin and domestication are introductory to the chapters
3. Cytogenetics,4.Somatic hybridization,5.Self-
incompatibility,6.Male sterility,7.Genome structure
and mapping,8.Haploidy,9.Genetic engineering,
10. Chemical composition, 11. Physiology, 12. Dis-
eases, 13. Breeding, and last but not least 14. Genetic
resources.
A chapter such as 13. Breeding: an overview can
indeed only present an overview, as many genera,
species, subspecies and ecotypes and almost innu-
merable subjects have to be dealt with. Breeding
concerns ‘green’ and oil yield, their chemical compos-
ition, thicker stems, bigger ‘tubers’, better storability,
resistance and tolerance to diseases and pests, new
alloploid crops, classic breeding methods, and hy-
brid varieties based on genic or cytoplasmic induced
male sterility. In the paragraph ‘Future developments’
the authors forecast that the 21st century will be the
‘century of biology’ and that ‘plant breeding will be
a major application of all forthcoming scientific and
technical developments in this field.’ New generations
of brassica breeders will know whether this forecast
has been fulfilled or not.
In chapter 14. Genetic resources, three URLs are
presented creating the possibility (through ‘links’) to
consult many collections.
The wide provenance of the contributing authors
suggests that the book includes all subjects of interest.
However, in the chapters 2. Origin and domestica-
tion and 3. Cytogenetics no mention is made of the
evolutionary point of view, the interesting and still
existing non-flowering trait and, therefore, the veget-
atively propagated perennial kale or perpetual kale (B.
oleracea ramosa) with its diploid and autotetraploid
forms (clones). These subjects are included in chapter
14. Genetic Resources. Although not intended by the
authors of chapters 2 and 3, one could argue that it is
correctly excluded, because it does not hybridize with
the other components of the coenospecies. Perennial
kale is still grown on a small scale in various European
countries, including Portugal, The Netherlands, Great
Britain and Eire (and Ethiopia?); it may have been do-
mesticated, developed and distributed by the Romans
some two millennia ago.
A.C. Zeven