Inheritance of the high oleic trait and environmental effects on seed fatty acid composition in High Oleic Sunflower(Helianthus annuus L.).

The topic of research presented in this thesis is the evaluation of environmental and maternal effects on oleic acid content and its inheritability in High Oleic Sunflower. The environmental effects have been studied by using two sowing dates in different years. The effects of temperature are considered. Maternal effects have been studied by using reciprocal crosses and backcrosses between two High Oleic inbred lines. Finally, inheritance of high oleic acid content has been studied by analyzing parents, their F1, F2 and partially F3. The main goal of this thesis is to determine that factors affect oleic acid content in HO genotypes and, consequently, to give some indications for HO sunflower breeding procedures.