Ethyl methanesulphonate induced fatty acid mutations in flax

Abstract

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.