VEGETABLE OILS ARE A HIGHLY DESIRED COMMODITY BECAUSE THEY REPRESENT THE MOST REDUCED CARBON, WHICH NOT ONLY PROVIDE A MAJOR SOURCE OF HUMAN DIET, BUT ALSO IMPORTANT INDUSTRIAL FEEDSTOCK FOR MANUFACTURING BIOFUELS AS WELL AS NUMEROUS OLEOCHEMICAL PRODUCTS. CAMELINA SATIVA IS A PROMISING OILSEED CROP THAT MAY PROVIDE A PARTIAL SOLUTION TO ADDRESS THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR VEGETABLE OILS AND THE LIMITATION OF LAND FOR CROPPING. CAMELINA OIL CAN BE USED FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION OR HUMAN CONSUMPTION, EACH WILL HAVE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FATTY ACID COMPOSITION. THE OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID, ALPHA-LINOLENIC ACID (ALA), MAKES UP OVER 30% OF TOTAL FATTY ACIDS IN CAMELINA SEED THUS MAKES IT AN ATTRACTIVE HEALTHY OIL. HOWEVER, ALA LEVELS NEED TO BE REDUCED FOR CAMELINA OIL TO BE SUITABLE FOR MANY INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE GENETIC MECHANISMS THAT REGULATE ALA SYNTHESIS IN CAMELINA SEED. THE APPROACHES INCLUDE MOLECULAR QUANTITATIVE GENETICS TO IDENTIFY QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI (QTLS) AND GENES FOR ALA ACCUMULATION UNDER NORMAL AND HIGH TEMPERATURES. MUTANTS CREATED BY EMS MUTAGENESIS AND MICRORNA MISEXPRESSION WILL ALSO BE USED TO ISOLATE CANDIDATE GENES INVOLVED IN ALA SYNTHESIS AND REGULATION. FUNCTIONS OF CANDIDATE GENES WILL BE ELUCIDATED BY ESTABLISHED BIOCHEMICAL AND GENETIC METHODS. KNOWLEDGE OBTAINED BY THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE VALUABLE TOOLS TO MODIFY CAMELINA OIL FOR DIFFERENT USES, BUT ALSO ADVANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF LIPID BIOSYNTHESIS IN OILSEEDS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO IMPROVE OTHER RELATED OILSEED CROPS.