Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 14.2 Geographic distribution of lesquerella (
P. fendleri
) and USDA-collected germplasm of
related
Physaria
and
Paysonia
species in the United States and Mexico showing variation in seed-
oil content
showing higher sensitivity to elevation and temperature. Plant density was also
found to affect the content of linolenic and auricolic acids, while late harvesting
may cause reduced seed-oil content [
64
].
Several lesquerella accessions have been described to have potential for orna-
mental use due to abundance of flowers and the plants' suitability for semiarid and
arid landscapes [
65
]. Likewise, there is a recent interest in the crop as a model
species thriving in arid environments. An endeavor to characterize germplasm
collections for root traits is ongoing to determine the existing variability in the
collection as well as identify associated molecular markers [
66
].
A few
Physaria
species are on federal or state lists as rare, endangered, or
threatened species. Among these species,
P. pallida
has been valuable to the
crop's breeding program because of its high lesquerolic HFA content (85-90 %).
This species is also autofertile compared to the self-incompatibility and open
pollination of
P. fendleri
. No collections have been made of this species since the
original collection in the 1800s, until a report by E.S. Nixon and J. Ward in 1981 on
its rediscovery [
67
].
There are several
Physaria
species that have traits of interest for genetic
improvement, although none have been found to have the equivalent productivity
of
P. fendleri
. The lesquerella database contains over 10,000 evaluation records
including various traits such as yellow seeds, non-shattering selections, salt toler-
ance, male sterility, five-petal plants, multilocule silique selections, and other traits
and crosses.
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