A fap7 allele for elevated palmitate in soybean

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr,] oil with elevated palmitate content may be useful for food and industrial applications requiring oil with high oxidat ive stability. The mutant line A30 with approximate to 40 g kg(-1) greater palmitate content than conventional soybean oil was developed by treating s eeds of the line A89-144026 with N-nitroso-N-methyl urea. This study was co nducted to determine the genetic control,of elevated palmitate content in A 30, Crosses were made between A30, its parent, and lines possessing the fap 1, fap2-b, fap3, fap4, fap5, or fap6 alleles for altered palmitate, The Fl seeds from reciprocal crosses between A30 and A89-144026 did not exhibit ma ternal effects or dominance for palmitate content. The phenotypic and genot ypic analyses of F-2 seeds and F-3 progeny indicated that A30 had an elevat ed palmitate allele, designated fap7, with additive gene action at a single locus. The fap7 locus was independent of fap1, fap2-b, fap3, fap4, and fap 5, but closely linked to the fap6 locus. The new allele can be used in comb ination with other alleles that control fatty ester composition to obtain u nique oils for possible food and industrial applications.