Enhancement of total lipid production in vegetative tissues of alfalfa and sainfoin using chemical mutagenesis

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Wijekoon, C. P., Singer, S. D., Weselake, R. J., Petrie, J. R., Singh, S., Jayawardhane, K. N., Shah, S., Chen, G., Eastmond, P. J. and Acharya, S. N. 2019. Enhancement of total lipid production in vegetative tissues of alfalfa and sainfoin using chemical mutagenesis. Crop Science. 60 (6), pp. 2990-3003. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20027

AuthorsWijekoon, C. P., Singer, S. D., Weselake, R. J., Petrie, J. R., Singh, S., Jayawardhane, K. N., Shah, S., Chen, G., Eastmond, P. J. and Acharya, S. N.
Abstract

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifoila Scop.) are two key forage legumes for the western Canadian cattle industry. Despite the high protein content, drawbacks to their use exists, including inefficient protein digestibility and energy use efficiency in the ruminant system leading to economic losses and negative environmental impacts. Increasing the proportion of lipids in the diet of cattle is known to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions; however, the above two forage legumes possess only trace quantities of lipids in the shoot tissues used by the ruminants. In the current study, chemical mutagenesis was used as a conventional breeding approach to enhance lipid levels in the vegetative tissues of alfalfa and sainfoin. The mutagenesis procedures for these two forages need to be firmly established. We developed protocols for ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)‐mediated mutagenesis by optimizing mutagen concentration and seed soaking duration. EMS‐treated populations were assessed for morphological variants and total shoot lipid content (TSLC). Fatty acid composition was examined in a subset of plants with increased TSLC. Within 24 months, the screening process identified mutagenized plants with significant increases in TSLC (3 ‐ 5% on a dry weight basis) and a subset of these also displayed alterations in fatty acid composition in both species. These genotypes provide a novel source of germplasm for the future improvement of these two forage species.

KeywordsEthyl methanesulfonate; Fatty acids; Legume forages; Medicago sativa; Onobrychis viciifoila; Shoot tissue
Year of Publication2019
JournalCrop Science
Journal citation60 (6), pp. 2990-3003
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20027
Web address (URL)https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/csc2.20027
Open accessPublished as non-open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or codeTailoring Plant Metabolism ISP
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online22 Jun 2020
Publication process dates
Accepted09 Dec 2019
PublisherCrop Science Soc Amer
ISSN0011-183X

Permalink - https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk/item/97xx3/enhancement-of-total-lipid-production-in-vegetative-tissues-of-alfalfa-and-sainfoin-using-chemical-mutagenesis

Restricted files

Publisher's version

Under embargo indefinitely

98 total views
0 total downloads
0 views this month
0 downloads this month