AN ANALYSIS OF SEED DEVELOPMENT IN PISUM-SATIVUM .16. ASSESSING VARIATION FOR FATTY-ACID CONTENT BY USE OF A NONDESTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUE FOR SINGLE-SEED ANALYSIS

Analyses of seeds from a wide range of pea lines have revealed extensi ve variation for all of the major Fatty acids normally found in pisum. Unlike total lipid content, this variation was not affected by the pr esence of mutant alleles at the r and rb loci. To allow chemically ana lysed seed to be used in crosses, which is of particular importance fo r F-2 seed, a method has been developed by which individual seeds can be analysed non-destructively. This system entails drifting a small ho le in the seed, away from the embryonic axis. The small quantity of po wder produced by this process can be used for the chemical analysis bu t does not prevent the seed from being grown to produce progeny. Reduc ing the sample size had no significant effect upon the compositional a nalysis of the fatty acids.