Inheritance of Reduced Palmitic Acid Content in Seed Oil of Soybean

Abstract

Reduction of the palmitic acid content of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] would lower the total saturated fatty acid content of the seed oil. A mutant line, A1937NMU‐173, with ≈30 g kg‐1 less palmitic acid than commercial soybean cultivars was obtained by the treatment of seeds of the cultivar A1937 with N‐nitroso‐N‐methyl‐urea (NMU). To determine the genetic control of the reduced palmitic acid, A1937NMU‐173 was crossed reciprocally to C1726, a line with the fap1 allele that lowers the palmitic acid content. No maternal effect for palmitic acid was observed from the analysis of F1 seeds from reciprocal crosses. The segregation observed from the analysis of individual F2 seeds for palmitic acid content satisfactorily fit a ratio of 9 greater than either parent: 2 within the range of the parents: 5 less tahn either parent. The F2 segregation ratio and the segregation of F3 seeds from F2 plants indicated that A1937NMU‐173 and C1726 have different alleles at two independent loci. The allele in A1937NMU‐137 has temporarily been designed fapx. the genotype fap1 fap1 fapx fapx has ≈ g kg‐1 of palmitic acid, which is the lowest content known in soybean.