THE USE OF CONVENTIONAL AND MOLECULAR-GENETICS TO PRODUCE NEW DIVERSITY IN SEED OIL COMPOSITION FOR THE USE OF PLANT BREEDERS - PROGRESS, PROBLEMS AND FUTURE-PROSPECTS

Considerable advances in the manipulation of seed oil yield and quality have been made using conventional breeding methods. Newer methods such as induced mutation and wide crosses have also resulted in significant achievements. These techniques, however, are all limited by the gene pool available in the crop of interest and its near relatives. The prospect of diminishing supplies of non-renewable fossil hydrocarbon reserves and the reality of edible crop surpluses have focused attention on the development of industrial oilseed crops. This will require the production of types of seed fatty acids which are not available in the oilseed crop species that are grown at present. The introduction of novel oil crops via domestication is contrasted with the insertion of alien genes into existing oilseeds to create designer crops. The use of molecular genetics to alter the yield and quality of rapeseed oil is discussed, and strategies for the engineering of seven new designer rapeseed varieties are presented.