Location: Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit
2023 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. High oleic sesame. Seeds from select newly developed peanut and soybean varieties contain over 80% oleic acid which can extend the shelf-life time and benefit to human health. However, sesame seeds only contain about 40% oleic acid. ARS scientists in Griffin, Georgia, took two approaches to improve fatty acid composition in sesame. One was to screen the USDA sesame germplasm collection to identify accessions which have natural mutations for high oleic acid. The second was to chemically mutate elite lines to get high oleic acid. We took both approaches sequentially and produced mutant lines with approximately 75% oleic acid. These mutant lines will be very useful for breeders to develop improved sesame varieties and for scientists to use in further genetic studies.
Review Publications
Terrill, T., Courson, E.M., Morris, J.B., Morning, B.J., Owen, V.C., Muir, J.P., Cherry, N.M., Tonnis, B.D., Pech-Cervantes, A.A. 2023. Ticktrefoil (Desmodium) species as a nutraceutical forage resource for animals. Grassland Science. p. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/grs.12411.
Wang, M.L., Tonnis, B.D., Li, X., Morris, J.B. 2023. Generation of sesame mutant population by mutagenesis and identification of high oleate mutants by GC analysis. Plants. 12(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061294.
