Camelina (Camelina sativa(L.) Crantz) as an alternative oilseed: molecular and ecogeographic analyses

Abstract

Camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) is an oilseed known for its potential as a low-input biofuel feedstock and its high levels of beneficial fatty acids. We investigated the role of geographical origin in genetic variation and fatty acid content, expecting to find significant variability among 53 accessions and a link between ecogeography and both origin and key oil traits. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting revealed high levels of diversity within the 53 accessions. Even though sampling was relatively biased towards the Russian-Ukrainian area, this region was identified as a genetic diversity hotspot and possible centre of origin for camelina. The accessions were categorized by principal coordinate analysis using molecular marker data, enabling identification of links between geographical distribution and these categories. The influence of geographic location on four canola oil quality measures in camelina was evaluated using a geographic information system. These measures were (1) more than 30% alpha-linolenic acid, (2) less than 3% erucic acid, (3) less than 10% saturated fatty acids, and (4) a ratio of alpha-linolenic to linoleic acid greater than 1. The results clearly confirm that camelina oil quality characteristics are strongly influenced by environmental factors. The unprecedented high genetic diversity in this group of accessions offers an excellent opportunity to investigate valuable genes for successful adaptation of camelina to specific ecogeographical conditions such as drought.

Oxidative stability of camelina (Camelina sativa L.) oil using pressure differential scanning calorimetry and Rancimat method

“…It was cultivated as early as 2000 years ago in Poland and in Scandinavia. Since the end of World War II, its large-scale cultivation was suspended; however, nowadays, interest in it has been growing rapidly [1][2][3][4].…”

“…Camelina seeds contain approximately 35-45 % oil, whereas the winter variety contains more oil than the spring one [1][2][3][4][5]. Camelina oil is obtained mainly through cold pressing, which, according to Codex Alimentarius [6], means oils obtained by mechanical procedures, without the application of heat or chemicals.…”

Environmental and varietal impact on linseed composition and on oil unidirectional expression process

“…Oil content in flax seeds were reported between 30 to 50% of the dry weight containing 40 to 66% of C18:3 with a level highly dependent on the genetic variation between linseed genotypes (Adugna et al, 2004;Batta et al, 1985;Mc Gregor and Carson, 1961;Tonnet et al, 1987;Vereshchagin and Novitskaya, 1965;Westcott and Muir, 2003). As for other plant species, the flax cultivars tend to maintain their rank in regard to oil content and fatty acid composition whatever the culture conditions (Ghamkhar et al, 2010;McGregor and Carson, 1961;Rahimi et al, 2011). Thus, the flax variability is specifically exploited to identify common molecular markers linked to oil content and fatty acids in order to establish efficient strategies for marker-assisted breeding of flax (Chandrawati et al, 2014;Soto-Cerda et al, 2014).…”

Biofuels Get in the Fast Lane: Developments in Plant Feedstock Production and Processing

“…The probable origin of the plant is the southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia [68]. Recent molecular evidence, however, challenges this belief and shows high genetic diversity among the Russian-Ukrainian camelina populations suggesting that this region could be the centre of the species origin [69]. This could explain why the plant germinates at low temperatures around 5°C and is very tolerant to spring frost.…”