Mutant Sunflowers with High Concentration of Saturated Fatty Acids in the Oil

Abstract

Development of cultivars of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) with increased levels of saturated fatty acids could increase the utility of the oil for specific edible purposes. The primary objective of this research was to induce variability for these traits by using mutagenesis. Four sunflower mutants with altered seed fatty acid compositions have been isolated by screening single M2 and M3 seeds from plants obtained from mutagenized seeds utilizing ethyl methanesulfonate, sodium azide, and x‐rays. The mutant lines included CAS‐5, which has an oil with a fivefold increase (252 g kg−1) in palmitic acid (16:0) and the appearance of palmitoleic acid (16:1; 37 g kg−1); and CAS‐3, CAS‐4, and CAS‐8, which have from two to six times (99–260 g kg−1) the stearic acid (18:0) content normally observed in the oil of cultivated sunflower. The dramatic increase in levels of either 16:0 or 18:0 were at the expense of oleic (18:1) and linoleic (18:2) acids. The relative proportion of 18:1 to 18:2 varied with the mutants. All showed variation in fatty acid composition among the seeds of the original plant, which indicated that the fatty acid changes were controlled by the genotype of the embryo. The bimodal distribution in fatty acid composition of CAS‐3 and CAS‐5 seeds suggested that major recessive genes are involved in the control of these characters.

Stearic sunflower oil as a sustainable and healthy alternative to palm oil. A review

“…The highest stearic acid seeds were obtained from the plants that produced the seeds during the period of maximum summer temperatures (35-40°C during the day and 20-25°C at night) (Fernandez-Moya et al 2002) whereas in the medium stearic containing CAS-3 and CAS-4 mutants, and a high stearic acid containing line ADV-3512, the stearic acid proportions decreased at high temperatures (Izquierdo et al 2013). The CAS-14 mutant line has more stearic acid (37.3%) than the previous highstearic-acid sunflower mutants like CAS-3 which had 28.8% stearic acid (Fernandez-Moya et al 2002;Osorio et al 1995). Due to the sensitivity of desaturases to temperature, high temperatures increase the content of monounsaturated fatty acids (C18:1) (Merrien et al 2005).…”

“…The mutants CAS-8, CAS-4, and CAS-3 with medium to high stearic acid proportions (Osorio et al 1995) proportions (Pérez-Vich et al 2002). The use of these molecular markers will contribute towards improving breeding efficiency (Fernández-Martínez et al 2007).…”

Screening of Cotton Genotypes for Protein Content, Oil and Fatty Acid Composition

“…Although genetics accounted for a significant amount of fatty acid variation, the overall range of variation was insufficient to indicate that breeding within this population would produce desirable changes in oil composition. Efforts to breed cotton plants for improved oil properties will require a broader survey of cotton germplasm, perhaps including other Gossypium species, or possibly mutagenesis-based developmental efforts, which have been useful for modifying fatty acid profiles of other oilseeds (Fehr et al, 1991;Osorio et al, 1995). Vegetable oils like cotton seed oil are typically rich in C 18-poly unsaturated fatty acids mainly linoleic acid and γ-linolenic acid.…”

Perspectives of Breeding for Altering Sunflower Oil Quality to Obtain Novel Oils

“…Mutagenesis was also effective for developing mutants with altered fatty acid content like the high oleic acid mutant "Pervenets" (Soldatov, 1976); mutants 275HP and CAS-5 with high palmitic acid content (Osorio et al, 1995), CAS-12 with high palmitic acid and increased oleic acid content (Fernandez-Martinez et al, 1997) and CAS-37 with high palmitic acid and medium content of palmitoleic acid (Salas et al, 2004); mutants CAS-8, CAS-4 and CAS-3 with medium to high stearic acid content (Osorio et al,1995) and CAS-14 with very high stearic acid content (FernandezMoya et al, 2002); two mutants with low stearic acid content LS-1 and LS-2 and one mutant LP-1 with low palmitic acid content (Miller and Vick, 1999). The mutants IAST-1 and IAST-540 with increased levels of gamma tocopherol (>95%) were developed by Mutagenesis .…”