Heritability of Oleic Acid Content in Soybean Seed Oil and Its Genetic Correlation with Fatty Acid and Agronomic Traits

Oleate content is important for the nutritional value and oxidative stability of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed oil. Response to selection for higher oleate content depends on its heritability in breeding populations, and correlated responses of other fatty acid and agronomic traits to selection for oleate content depend on their genetic correlations with oleate. The objective of this study was to estimate the heritability of oleate content and to determine the correlation of oleate with other fatty acid and agronomic traits in three soybean populations segregating for major and minor oleate genes grown in multiple environments. One of the populations consisted of 721 lines, providing excellent precision for estimation of the genetic parameters. The results of this study indicated that heritability for oleate content was suffi ciently high that early generation selection can be effective when practiced on unreplicated lines grown at a single environment. Signifi cant negative correlations were observed between oleate and linoleate, oleate and linolenate, as well as oleate and palmitate in all three populations. Signifi cant positive correlations were detected between palmitate and stearate in one population segregating for oleate genes and fapnc and fap1 alleles, which reduce palmitate content. In the same population we also observed a signifi cant negative correlation between yield and oleate content, and positive correlations between yield and linoleate, and linolenate and palmitate contents. E. Bachlava, J.W. Burton, S. Wang, J. Auclair, and A.J. Cardinal, Dep. of Crop Science, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-7620; J.W. Burton, USDA-ARS, Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research Unit, Raleigh, NC 27607; C. Brownie, Dep. of Statistics, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-8203. Received 24 Jan. 2008. *Corresponding author ([email protected]). Abbreviations: BLUP, best linear unbiased predictor; MG, maturity group. Published in Crop Sci. 48:1764–1772 (2008). doi: 10.2135/cropsci2008.01.0049 © Crop Science Society of America 677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher.