ETHYL METHANESULFONATE INDUCED FATTY-ACID MUTATIONS IN FLAX

Seed of the flax cultivar McGregor were treated with the chemical mutagen ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) with the objective of producing mutations that reduced the α-linolenic acid content of the seed. From the seed of 2430 M1 plants initially examined by the thiobarbituric test, 53 were classified as having reduced linolenic acid levels. Utilizing half-seed analysis by gas chromatography, three lines taken through to the M4 generation had reduced linolenic acid levels, but all three appeared to have different mutations. Mutant E67 has a palmitic acid level of 28.4%, three times the level found in McGregor. Mutant E1747 had a high linoleic content of 52.2%, and mutant E1929 had increased oleic and linoleic levels to twice that of McGregor. © 1990 AOCS Press.