Title:Comparison of fiber content of fiber flax varieties from the Fibrevolution breeding program using two screening methods Authors: Jennifer Kling, Zoë Griffith, Shannon Welsh, and Angela Wartes-Kahl
Increasing demand for local, sustainable textiles has renewed interest in developing a flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) to linen industry in North America. Fibrevolution has been breeding fiber flax in Oregon since 2016. We have selected for visible agronomic traits such as plant height, but have been limited by the lack of rapid and inexpensive screening methods for fiber content. A trial of 37 experimental varieties (EV’s) and 4 European check varieties was planted in October, 2023 in Tangent, Oregon. A subset of 16 EV’s and 6 checks were planted in a second trial near Amity, Oregon in April, 2024. Stem samples were collected from 3 blocks at each site. From the fall-planted site, 50 whole stems from each plot were water-retted and hand-processed with traditional methods to determine total fiber and long fiber content. From both sites, 10-cm stem sections from 20 plants in each plot were collected for fiber extraction using the “vortex” method. After retting, boiling water and a vortex shaker were used to separate the fiber to determine total fiber content. Results for the two methods were well-correlated (r=0.89), and differences among varieties for fiber content were highly significant in both trials. The European checks were consistently among the varieties with the highest fiber contents, but some of the EV’s were also high in fiber. Some of the promising EV’s possess additional characteristics that may be advantageous in some environments, such as winter hardiness and high seed yields. Although the average fiber content in the fall trial was much higher than in the spring trial, the interaction of varieties and environments was not significant. The vortex method should be a reliable tool to select for high fiber content in our breeding program.
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