Peer review

The fatty acid composition of corn oil is important in determining nutritional quality and possible uses of oil in industrial applications. Several inheritance studies of the major component fatty acids have been reported, but little information is available for the minor components such as stearic acid. Inheritance of stearic acid was studied in crosses between standard inbred lines with approximately 2 percent stearic acid and three strains of an introduced genotype (PI 175334) with unusually high stearic acid of about 10 percent. Results from single kernel oil analyses of the parents, F1, F2, BC1, and BC2 generations strongly suggest involvement of a major single gene recessive for high stearic acid in these crosses. Transgressive segregation for high stearic acid indicated the presence of one or more modifying genes of minor influence on stearic acid.

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