Chromosome number, oil and fatty acid content of species in the genus Glycine subgenus Glycine

Accessions of wild perennial species in Glycine subgenus Glycine were analyzed for chromosome number, oil and fatty acid content. The mean oil content appears to be quite similar in seed of those species with 2n=40. The onlys pecies with appreciable variation in oil content was Glycine clandestina. The polyploid accessions (2n=80) of G. tabacina and G. tomentella had about the same amount of oil as their diploid counterparts. The fatty acids detected in all seed of the 7 species in the subgenus Glycine include palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, arachidic and behenic. Among the species, the fatty acid content of G. clandestina was the most variable. Within the G. tabacina accessions, there was very little difference in fatty acid content between the diploid (2n=40) and the tetraploid (2n=80) accessions. Within the G. tomentella accessions, there were minor differences in fatty acid content between the aneuploid accessions (2n=38 or 78) and their complete genome counterparts (2n=40 or 80).