Fatty acid homeostasis in honey bees (Apis mellifera) fed commercial diet supplements

Honey bees obtain lipids from pollen or commercial supplements. These supplements do not fully support colony health. We tested the hypothesis that supplements are deficient because they lack essential fatty acids (EFAs). The five supplements we tested had low linolenic (⍵3) acid and were unbalanced (⍵6:⍵3 > 6) compared to natural pollen. We selected two of these supplements for further study because they had different levels of individual EFAs and different ⍵6:⍵3 ratios. Bees from hives fed these different supplements had equivalent tissue EFA levels. In choice assays, hives fed these different supplements were presented with flours with various absolute and relative levels of EFAs. We saw no difference in foraging preference. Rather, all hives preferred flours with small grain size and high protein to lipid ratios. We conclude that bees balance their internal EFAs and that differential colony nutrition does not affect foraging preference. The data also argue for more linolenic (⍵3) acid in commercial supplements.

Transcriptional Profiles of Long Non-coding RNAs Involved in Fatty Acid Biosynthesis at Filling Stage of Soybean Pods

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-coding RNAs of more than 200 nucleotides. To date, the roles of lncRNAs in soybean fatty acid synthesis have not been fully studied. Here, the low-linolenic acid ‘mutant 72’ (MT72) and the wild-type control ‘JiNong 18’(JN18) were used. Based on the previously published data on lncRNAs related RNA-seq in young pods of soybean 30 d to 40 d after flowering, lncRNAs and mRNAs from soybean pods 50 d after flowering were identified using high-throughput sequencing. The possible target genes of lncRNAs were predicted, and the functions related to fatty acid synthesis were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).Results: A total of 10,500 lncRNAs and 54,370 mRNAs were identified, and 115 possible target genes of 1,805 differentially expressed lncRNAs were found to be involved in fatty acid synthesis. A network of lncRNAs and mRNAs was constructed, and a total of 604 lncRNAs and 1,484 mRNAs had regulatory relationships. Among them, 115 target genes of 77 lncRNAs were directly or indirectly involved in fatty acid biosynthesis.Conclusions: The function related to fatty acid synthesis was predicted by differential expression of the target gene mRNAs interacting with lncRNAs. In conclusion, our results provide a theoretical basis for studies on fatty acid synthesis of lncRNAs in soybean.

The oil flax variety Amber

To use flax oil in food, it is necessary to decrease the content of linolenic acid. We developed the oil flax variety Amber by individual selection from the hybrid population of the 3rd generation from crossing of the low-linolenic variety Linol and the breeding line 34725. The variety is mid-ripening, the duration of its growth season is 90-98 days, it is well adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of Siberia. It differs from the standard variety by its low content of linolenic acid in oil – 4.8-6.3 %. According to the results of competitive variety testing in 2016-2018, the variety Amber exceeded the standard variety Severny in terms of seed productivity by 0.29 t/ha. The variety ripens in uniformity, it is resistant to Fusarium blight, lodging and shedding, it is suitable for mechanized harvesting, it is developed to obtain edible oil of high quality. The potential cultivation areas of the oil flax variety are Volgo-Vyatsky region, Ural and West Siberia.

Evaluation of Chemical Composition of Two Linseed Varieties as Sources of Health-Beneficial Substances

Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is becoming more and more important in the health food market as a functional food, since its seeds and oil represent a rich source of bioactive compounds. Its chemical composition is strongly correlated with, and dependent on, genetic characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variation in seed yield, oil content, fatty acid composition and secondary metabolite profiles between a low-linolenic linseed variety, belonging to the Solin-type group (Solal), and a high-linolenic traditional one (Bethune), cultivated, both as spring crops, in open field conditions of Central Italy. The achieved results pointed out the different behavior of the two varieties in terms of growth cycle, oil content, and some important yield components, such as capsule number per plant and thousand seed weight. There were also significant differences in seed composition regarding total phenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant activities as well as in carotenoid, tocopherol, and tocotrienol profiles between the two varieties. In particular, Solal was characterized by the greatest contents of oil, phenols, flavonoids, α- and δ- tocotrienol, together with the highest antioxidant activity. Bethune, on the contrary, showed the highest amounts of carotenoids (lutein and β-carotene). These results indicate a clear effect of the genetic characteristics on the biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites and, consequently, on the related antioxidant activity. Our findings suggest that the mutation process, responsible for the selection of the low-linolenic cultivar, is able to modify the biosynthetic pathways of carotenoids and phenolics.

Polymorphism of genes controlling low level of linolenic acid in lines from VIR flax genetic collection

Background. Linseed solin varieties were created for nutrition, but the effect of oil fatty acid (FA) composition on other characters is not clear. Materials and methods. Using 6 inbreeding generations from 26 heterogeneous flax accessions were generated 19 high (HL), 7 medium (ML) and 14 low linolenic (LL) lines. For each lines contents of 5 basic FA: palmitic, stearic, oleic (OLE), linoleic (LIO) and linolenic (LIN); the ratio LIO/LIN, oil iodine number, vegetative period (VP) phases and plants size were evaluated. Development of CAPS marker for LuFAD3A gene was performed using idtdna.com. Sequencing of LIN genes sites was done in the Centre MCT SPBGU and Eurogen. Results. ANOVA showed significant differences HL, ML and LL groups for PAL, OLE, LIO, LIN, LIO/LIN, IOD. Considerable decrease of LIN, causes asymmetric changes in FA ratio and correlations between them and other traits. Factor analysis revealed the influence of two factors. The first one divided lines according to their LIN level and characters associated with it, the second one according to the VP and OLE. LIN synthesis is controlled by two complementary genes LuFAD3A and LuFAD3B. Sequencing of LuFAD3A gene 1 exon of 6 lines revealed a mutation (G255 A255), resulting in formation of stop codon. Developed developed CAPS-marker confirmed the homozygosity of hybrids between LL (gc-391) and HL lines (gc-65, 109, 121). Descendants of hybrid between gc-109 and gc-391 ripened 8-10 days earlier than gc-391. CAPS markers of LuFAD3B gene revealed differences between HL, ML, LL lines. Sequencing of this gene first exon and the beginning of the second one in 3 lines (1HL, 2LL) showed that this method reveals a mutation in the second restriction site, located in the 2 exon (C6 T6), and causing the replacement Hys Tyr. Conclusion. Lines from GC have wide variability of FA and other agronomic characters, combination of which will expand the cultivation of solin.