Inheritance and fatty acid composition of a yellow-embryo mutant in turnip rape (Brassica campestris L.).

The inheritance of a yellow-embryo mutant in Brassica campestris L. was shown to be determined by a simple recessive gene yy under embryonic control. Analysis of mature seed on heterozygous plants indicated that the content of each of the polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic and linolenic, for the mutant seed, was approximately 3 percentage-points less than for the normal seed. The reduction of linolenic and linoleic acid to almost the same extent might indicate that the desaturation pathway from oleic acid, rather than the elongation pathway from dodecatrienoic acid, has been involved to effect these changes.