This review is devoted to the description of chemical peculiarities of industrial oil crops cultivated (or prospective for cultivation) in Russia, which are stored in the VIR collection. Different crops have similar fatty acids biosynthesis pathways, but each species has its own individualities in the chemical composition of the oil and its genetic control. The diversity of oil crop chemical composition opens the possibility of its multipurpose utilization practically in all industrial segments. Sunflower, rapeseed, flax, mustard, camelina and safflower are cultivated in Russia as oil crops. Castor beans, perilla, lallemantia and noog are not cultivated on an industrial scale, but have original oil properties and are prospective for future cultivation. Hemp and poppy seeds contain oil valuable for food, but they are not widespread. Cotton and peanut oils are prospective for industrial purposes when early, already created varieties of these crops will be cultivated in Russia. Oil properties depend on the ratio of its basic fatty acids: saturated (stearic, palmitic) and unsaturated (oleic, linoleic, linolenic). As a rule, lauric, myristic and palmitoleic acids are determined in minor quantities. The oil of Brassicaceae crops also includes arachidic, eicosenoic, eicosadienoic, behenic, erucic and lignoceric acids. Fatty acids accumulation is influenced by growing conditions, though it has strict genetic control.

Thirteen pure lines from VIR flax genetic collection were evaluated for their vegetative period, production, quality of textile fibre, structure and composition of the fibre. Correlation analyses showed that strength of technical fibres was positively correlated with plant height, straw production and number of bundles per stem section and negatively with the diameter of elementary fibres. The fineness and flexibility were linked with the ratio between the areas of the fibre and xylem tissues and negatively with the relative amount of encrusting components to cellulose in fibres. The content of total fibres in the stem correlated with the content of hand decorticated fibre. It opens the possibility of approximate preliminary estimation of fibre content according to plant exterior and hand decortication.

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.

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important oil and fiber crop. Using modern methods for flax breeding allows accelerating the introduction of some desired genes into the genotypes of future varieties. Today, an important condition for their creation is the development of research, that is based on next-generation sequencing (NGS). This review summarizes the results obtained using NGS in flax research. To date, a linkage map with a high marker density has been obtained for L. usitatissimum, which is already being used for a more efficient search for quantitative traits loci. Comparative studies of transcriptomes and miRNomes of flax under stress and in control conditions elucidated molecular-genetic mechanisms of abiotic and biotic stress responses. The very accurate model for genomic selection of flax resistant to pasmo was constructed. Based on NGS-sequencing also some details of the genus Linum evolution were clarified. The knowledge systematized in the review can be useful for researchers working in flax breeding and whereas fundamental interest for understanding the phylogenetic relationships within the genus Linum, the ontogenesis, and the mechanisms of the response of flax plants to various stress factors.

Flax is one of the oldest oil crops, but only since the end of the twentieth century nutritional use of its whole seeds and flour has been resumed. This crop has been evaluated for its oil fatty acid composition, content of sterols and tocopherols, carbohydrate composition of mucilage, but a comprehensive study has never been carried out, so the aim of the work was to identify differences in the metabolomic profiles of flax lines contrasting in color and size of seeds. The biochemical composition of seeds from 16 lines of the sixth generation of inbreeding was tested using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. In total, more than 90 compounds related to sugars (78% of the identified substances), free fatty acids (13%), polyatomic alcohols (5%), heterocyclic compounds, free amino acids, phytosterols and organic acids (no more than 2.5% in total) were identified. Statistical analyses revealed six main factors. The first is a factor of sugar content; the second one affects most of organic acids, as well as some free fatty acids, not related to reserve ones, the third factor is related to compounds that play a certain role in the formation of “storage” substances and resistance to stress, the fourth factor is influencing free polar amino acids, some organic and free fatty acids, the fifth one is a factor of phenolic compounds, the sixth factor combined substances not included in the first five groups. Factor analysis made it possible to differentiate all 16 lines, 10 of which occupied a separate position by one or two factors. Interestingly, the first two factors with the highest loads (20 and 15% of the total variability, respectively) showed a separate position of the gc-432 line, which differed from the others, not only by chemical composition, but also by the phenotype of the seeds, while gc-159 differed from the rest ones by the complex of organic acids and other substances taking about 1% of the extracted substances of the seed. Thus, the analysis of metabolomic profiles is promising for a comprehensive assessment of the VIR flax genetic collection, which has wide biochemical diversity.