A comparison of the yield response of solin (cv. Linola 947) and flax (cvs. McGregor and Vimy) to application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and Provide (Penicillium bilaji). Can. J. Plant Sci. 79: 527-533. Field studies were conducted at three locations over three years with Linum usitatissimum L. to determine whether the solin cultivar Linola 947 and the traditional oilseed flax cultivars McGregor and Vimy, differed in seed yield, straw yield and harvest index response to N and P fertilizer and the phosphorus-solubilizing fungus, Penicillium bilaji, marketed as "Provide". While cultivars differed in seed yield, straw yield and harvest index, the relative performance of the cultivars varied with site and year and did not relate to whether the cultivar was solin or traditional oilseed flax. The degree and pattern of response of straw yield and harvest index to N and/or P fertilization varied with year and location. Where significant differences occurred due to P or Provide management, seed yield and harvest index were lower and straw yield higher with application of Provide than with application of P fertilizer, indicating that Provide was less effective than P in enhancing seed yield of flax. Solin did not generally differ from traditional oilseed flax in the response of seed yield, straw yield and harvest index to fertilizer applications. Response of seed and straw yield to N and response of harvest index to P each differed among cultivars in only one-site year, while an N-by-P-by-cultivar interaction occurred in only one site-year for seed and straw yield. Considering the limited occurrence of cultivar-by-fertilizer interactions, fertilizer recommendations produced for traditional flax cultivars should also be applicable to solin cultivars. . Bien qu'on ait relevé des différences variétales quant aux trois variables, les performances relatives des cultivars fluctuaient selon l'emplacement et l'année, sans égard au type de lin. Le degré et la configuration de la réponse du rendement en paille et de l'indice de récolte à la fumure N ou P variait selon l'année et l'emplacement. Lorsqu'il y avait des différences significatives à l'égard de P ou de Provide, le rendement grainier et l'indice de récolte étaient plus bas et le rendement en paille plus élevé en présence de Provide qu'après fumure P, montrant par là que P était plus efficace que le champignon pour stimuler le rendement grainier. Dans l'ensemble, les caractères de rendement du solin ne se distinguaient pas de ceux du lin oléagineux ordinaire par la réponse à la fumure N et P. L'effet de N sur le rendement en graine et en paille, comme celui de P sur l'indice de récolte, ne différaient parmi les cultivars qu'à une année-emplacement seulement et une interaction N × P × cultivar pour le rendement n'était également observé qu'à une année-emplacement. Étant donné la fréquence restreinte des interactions fumure x cultivar, les recommandations de fumure visant les cultivars de lin ordinaire devraient être aussi valables pour le type solin.

Linola™ '947' flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) was the first low linolenic flax cultivar registered in 1993 in Canada. It had very good lodging resistance, was late maturing and produced seed with a very high oil content. In western Canada, '947' had yield similar to McGregor, its recurrent backcross parent. '947' has a yellow seedcoat. Key words: Flax, low linolenic acid, cultivar description

Flax ( Linum usitatissimum ) is an ancient crop grown for either its linen fiber (fiber flax) or its highly polyunsaturated seed oil (linseed). In recent times, the whole seed and the extracted oils have also become highly valued nutritional supplements due to their rich content of lignans and ω‐3 fatty acids. Compared to other more major crops, flax is relatively little studied from the genetic, cytogenetic, and molecular genetic perspectives. Nonetheless, significant achievements in improving yield, agronomics, and disease resistance were made during the 1900s using conventional plant breeding and selection techniques. The natural gene pool for flax is limited to L. usitatissimum and its respective annual and biennial progenitors, L. angustifolium and L. bienne , which significantly limits the opportunity for further genetic improvement. Consequently, mutation breeding techniques were successfully applied in the 1980s to alter the fatty acid composition of the seed and develop a new low‐linolenic form (Linola) that has been used as an alternative to sunflower and safflower oils in polyunsaturated margarine manufacture. More recently, flax has proven to be highly amenable to genetic transformation using Agrobacterium‐mediated approaches. This capability is likely to provide most of the future achievements in flax improvement in the areas of yield, abiotic stress tolerance, disease resistance, herbicide tolerance, insect tolerance, and diversification of product quality.

. 1999. Linola TM '1084' low-linolenic acid flax. Can. J. Plant Sci. 79: 607-609. Linola TM '1084' is a yellow seeded, low-linolenic acid (solin) flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) cultivar. It is higher yielding than Linola TM '989' and Linola TM '947' and has higher oil content and lower total saturated fats than Linola TM '989' and Linola TM '947'. It is immune to North American races of rust and is moderately resistant to Fusarium wilt.

No abstract