Transgressive segregation for oleate content in three soybean populations

Increased oleate content of soybean [Glycine mar (L.) Merr.] oil may be useful for food and industrial applications requiring increased oxidative stability. The objective of this study was to determine if transgressive segregates for oleate content could be found in crosses between three mid-oleate lines: FA22 from Iowa State University, N98-4445A from the USDA-ARS/North Carolina State University, and M23 from Saga University, Japan. Single-cross populations of FA22 X M23, FA22 X N98-4445A, and N98-4445A X M23 were developed. Plants with significantly greater oleate than the highest oleate parent were observed in the three populations in the F-2 and F-3 generations. For the F-3:4 lines grown in Puerto Rico, there were four lines with significantly greater oleate than the highest parent in the cross FA22 X M23, one line in FA22 X N98-4445A, and 27 lines in N98-4445A x M23. The F-3:4 line with the greatest oleate content had 689 g kg(-1) in the population FA22 x M23, 672 g kg(-1) in FA22 X N98-4445A, and 730 g kg(-1) in N98-4445A X M23 compared with 542 g kg(-1) for FA22, 589 g kg(-1) for N98-4445A, and 583 g kg(-1) for M23. Transgressive segregates from the populations should be useful as parents in a breeding program to develop cultivars with elevated oleate content.