Diversity study of some ecological, morphological and fatty acid profile of Linum album Ky. ex Boiss

Linum album Ky. ex Boiss, belonging to the Flax family, is one of the endemic plants in Iran. To investigate the genetic diversity of this plant with using of morphological traits and fatty acid profile, 11 populations of this plant were selected from Hamadan province. In spring and summer of 2014, five whole-plant samples were selected randomly from each population at flowering and seed ripening stage. Then, quantitative (33 traits) and qualitative measurements (9 traits) were done with five replications for each trait. Data were analyzed by SAS.v9.2 software. Means were compared by Duncan's multiple range test (at the 5% level), and the relationship between fatty acids and climate characteristics were measured using canonical correlation. According to the results, this species grows in Hamadan Province at an altitude of 1551 to 2176 meters above sea level. Populations showed significant differences in all traits at the 5% level except six of them, including length, width, and length to width ratio of stem leaves as well as length to width ratio of bracts. The results showed that palmitic acid (5.5-6.5%), stearic acid (0.5-5.1%), oleic acid (21.9-28.1), linoleic acid (15.4-66.8%) and linolenic (2.0-45.7%) acid were the main components of the fatty acid in seeds of flax and Linum album, and a large difference was found for the percentage of these compounds between the two species and in different populations of Linum album. Canonical correlation of geographical and ecological characteristics with the fatty acids of seeds showed that the amount of linolenic acid in the seed oil is increased with the increase in available phosphorus, available potassium, organic matter, EC, annual precipitation, and mean annual temperature. The yield of Linum album washigher in areas with an altitude of 1700 m, average annual temperature of 13°C, annual rainfall of 340 mm and southern slopes. Although introducing a population for cultivation and domestication of Linum album needs more researches, our results showed that populations A1, A4, A7 and A10 were potentially more suiteable.