An EMS mutation altering oil quality in sunflower inbred line

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to increase genetic variability of sunflower in terms of oil quality and productivity using induced mutations. A preliminary sensitivity test was performed to establish optimal ethyl-methane-sulphonate (EMS) doses for seed treatement. The results showed that high EMS concentrations (0.5-2.5%) caused low survival rates, therefore lower EMS doses were used. Thousand seeds of the sunflower high-oleic inbred line L31 were treated with 0.1% solution of EMS to induce mutations. In the M2 generation, seeds were screened for fatty acid composition and alterations occured in individual plants. In the next generation a putative mutant line, ML31-1, was isolated with significantly lower oleic acid content compared to the wild type L31 grown in the same year. We assumed that heterozygous mutation occurred, manifested by changing a dominant allele Ol to the recessive ol. After self-polination in the next generation the segeregation of oleic acid was from 346.6 to 949.1 g/kg and of linoleic acid from 39.9 to 339.3 g/kg. In subsequent generations, individual selection and evaluation of progenies continued in several directions depending on the content of oleic acid: low, increased or high. The stable progenies were evaluated in micro-plot tests for seed yield and other agronomic traits in comparison with their respective wild type.