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Flax: A Traditional Culture with Modern Advantages

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2023) | Viewed by 9447

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Anthony Quéro

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Guest Editor

UMR INRAE 1158 BioEcoAgro Biologie des Plantes et Innovation (UPJV), 1 rue des Louvels, 80 000 Amiens, France
Interests: biotic and abiotic stress; growth; metabolomics; specialized metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Christophe Hano

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Co-Guest Editor

Institut de Chimie Organique et Analytique, Université d’Orléans-CNRS, UMR 7311 BP 6759, CEDEX 2, 45067 Orléans, France
Interests: chemistry of natural products; analytical methods; HPLC; LC-MS; polyphenols; ethnopharmacology; history of pharmacy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Linum usitatissimum L. (common flax) is one of the oldest domesticated plants. The Latin meaning of the name usitatissimum (“the most useful”) reflects its importance. Flax is unique because it was domesticated for two very different phenotypes, namely a phenotype with an unbranched stem for the development of long linen fibers (flax), and a small, shorter bushy phenotype for high seed yield (linseed). Flax has a long and rich tradition of use. It is an important source of fiber. Its seeds are a rich source of both a health-promoting oil, namely omega 3, α‑linolenic acid (ALA) and lignans, in particular secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG). Its popularity rose again in recent decades after it was defined as a functional food. Flax and linseed are therefore both terms used to reference this crop. Flax has an average genome size of ca 750 Mb, with a genetic potential estimated to encode ca 43,000 genes. It is self-pollinated, diploid, and has a relatively small genome which was recently released, which are key features which make flax an ideal crop for breeding and genetic studies. Flax is highly adaptable to modern molecular genetic engineering techniques. It is anticipated that flax breeding will greatly benefit from the development of modern flax genomics and metabolomics approaches.

In this Special Issue, we encourage investigators to consider submitting reviews, regular research papers, and short communications focusing on the different aspects (including breeding and culture strategies, bioproduct and byproduct valorization, development of molecular tools such as genomics and metabolomics, applications (e.g., fiber, nutraceuticals, health, cosmetic)) of this plant.

Dr. Anthony Quéro
Dr. Christophe Hano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

flax
linseed
abiotic and biotic stress
specialized metabolites
metabolomics
transcriptomics
genomics
breeding and culture strategies
bioproduct and byproduct valorization

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 14760 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Selection of Flax Genotypes for Pan-Genomic Studies by Sequencing Tagmentation-Based Transcriptome Libraries

by Elena N. Pushkova, Elena V. Borkhert, Roman O. Novakovskiy, Ekaterina M. Dvorianinova, Tatiana A. Rozhmina, Alexander A. Zhuchenko, Daiana A. Zhernova, Anastasia A. Turba, Arthur G. Yablokov, Elizaveta A. Sigova, George S. Krasnov, Nadezhda L. Bolsheva, Nataliya V. Melnikova and Alexey A. Dmitriev

Plants 2023, 12(21), 3725; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants12213725 - 30 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1045

Abstract

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) products are used in the food, pharmaceutical, textile, polymer, medical, and other industries. The creation of a pan-genome will be an important advance in flax research and breeding. The selection of flax genotypes that sufficiently cover the species diversity is a crucial step for the pan-genomic study. For this purpose, we have adapted a method based on Illumina sequencing of transcriptome libraries prepared using the Tn5 transposase (tagmentase). This approach reduces the cost of sample preparation compared to commercial kits and allows the generation of a large number of cDNA libraries in a short time. RNA-seq data were obtained for 192 flax plants (3–6 individual plants from 44 flax accessions of different morphology and geographical origin). Evaluation of the genetic relationship between flax plants based on the sequencing data revealed incorrect species identification for five accessions. Therefore, these accessions were excluded from the sample set for the pan-genomic study. For the remaining samples, typical genotypes were selected to provide the most comprehensive genetic diversity of flax for pan-genome construction. Thus, high-throughput sequencing of tagmentation-based transcriptome libraries showed high efficiency in assessing the genetic relationship of flax samples and allowed us to select genotypes for the flax pan-genomic analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flax: A Traditional Culture with Modern Advantages)

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17 pages, 3556 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pathogen Stopping and Metabolism Modulation Are Key Points to Linum usitatissimum L. Early Response against Fusarium oxysporum

by Yannis Maillot, Gaëlle Mongelard, Anthony Quéro, Hervé Demailly, Stéphanie Guénin, Laurent Gutierrez, Christophe Pineau, Sylvain Lecomte, David Mathiron, Redouan Elboutachfaiti, Jean-Xavier Fontaine, Roland Molinié and Emmanuel Petit

Plants 2023, 12(10), 1963; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants12101963 - 12 May 2023

Viewed by 1297

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum is the one of the most common and impactful pathogens of flax. Cultivars of flax that show resistance to this pathogen have previously been identified. To better understand the mechanisms that are responsible for this resistance, we conducted time-lapse analysis of one susceptible and one resistant cultivar over a two-week period following infection. We also monitored changes in some metabolites. The susceptible cultivar showed a strong onset of symptoms from 6 to 8 days after inoculation, which at this time point, was associated with changes in metabolites in both cultivars. The resistant cultivar maintained its height and normal photosynthetic capacity but showed a reduced growth of its secondary stems. This resistance was correlated with the containment of the pathogen at the root level, and an increase in some metabolites related to the phenylpropanoid pathway. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flax: A Traditional Culture with Modern Advantages)

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Graphical abstract

23 pages, 5177 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Stress and Seed Color Interacting to Impact Seed and Oil Yield, Protein, Mucilage, and Secoisolariciresinol Diglucoside Content in Cultivated Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.)

by Sara Zare, Aghafakhr Mirlohi, Mohammad R. Sabzalian, Ghodratollah Saeidi, Mehmet Zeki Koçak and Christophe Hano

Plants 2023, 12(8), 1632; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants12081632 - 12 Apr 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1562

Abstract

Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a plant with a wide range of medicinal, health, nutritional, and industrial uses. This study assessed the genetic potential of yellow and brown seeds in thirty F4 families under different water conditions concerning seed yield, oil, protein, fiber, mucilage, and lignans content. Water stress negatively affected seed and oil yield, while it positively affected mucilage, protein, lignans, and fiber content. The total mean comparison showed that under normal moisture conditions, seed yield (209.87 g/m²) and most quality traits, including oil (30.97%), secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (13.89 mg/g), amino acids such as arginine (1.17%) and histidine (1.95%), and mucilage (9.57 g/100 g) were higher in yellow-seeded genotypes than the brown ones ((188.78 g/m²), (30.10%), (11.66 mg/g), (0.62%), (1.87%), and (9.35 g/100 g), respectively). Under water stress conditions, brown-seeded genotypes had a higher amount of fiber (16.74%), seed yield (140.04 g/m²), protein (239.02 mg. g⁻¹), methionine (5.04%), and secondary metabolites such as secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (17.09 mg/g), while their amounts in families with yellow seeds were 14.79%, 117.33 g/m², 217.12 mg. g⁻¹, 4.34%, and 13.98 mg/g, respectively. Based on the intended food goals, different seed color genotypes may be appropriate for cultivation under different moisture environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flax: A Traditional Culture with Modern Advantages)

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13 pages, 850 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reintroducing Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) to the Mediterranean Basin: The Importance of Nitrogen Fertilization

by Ioanna Kakabouki, Antonios Mavroeidis, Alexandros Tataridas, Ioannis Roussis, Nikolaos Katsenios, Aspasia Efthimiadou, Evangelia L. Tigka, Stella Karydogianni, Charikleia Zisi, Antigolena Folina and Dimitrios Bilalis

Plants 2021, 10(9), 1758; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10091758 - 24 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2287

Abstract

An increasing interest has been reported regarding the reintroduction of flax in the Mediterranean region. The aim of this present study was to evaluate the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on the performance of flax cv. Everest, under Mediterranean climate conditions. A two-year study was carried out in 2018–2019, in Western Greece. The experiment was set-up in a randomized complete block design with four replications and six treatments of different N fertilization rates (0, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 kg N ha⁻¹). Measurements included plant biomass, the leaf area index (LAI), the yield, and the Growth Degree Days (GDDs) required for full seed maturity. The N uptake of flax was also evaluated utilizing the Nitrogen Harvesting (NHI) and Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency (NUtE) indices. Although the highest fertilization rate (60N) increased the yield by 35.4% (2018) and 23.1% (2019), a GDDs and N indices assessment revealed that it noted the lowest efficiency and may lead to significant yield losses, as it significantly prolonged the crop cycle. On the contrary, even though fertilization rates of 20 and 30 kg N ha⁻¹ increased the yield only by 7% and 15% (on average), they were more efficient, and prolonged the crop cycle less (compared to 60N). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flax: A Traditional Culture with Modern Advantages)

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Review

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25 pages, 10856 KiB

Open AccessReview

Overview and Management of the Most Common Eukaryotic Diseases of Flax (Linum usitatissimum)

by Julie Moyse, Sylvain Lecomte, Shirley Marcou, Gaëlle Mongelard, Laurent Gutierrez and Monica Höfte

Plants 2023, 12(15), 2811; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants12152811 - 28 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2045

Abstract

Flax is an important crop cultivated for its seeds and fibers. It is widely grown in temperate regions, with an increase in cultivation areas for seed production (linseed) in the past 50 years and for fiber production (fiber flax) in the last decade. Among fiber-producing crops, fiber flax is the most valuable species. Linseed is the highest omega-3 oleaginous crop, and its consumption provides several benefits for animal and human health. However, flax production is impacted by various abiotic and biotic factors that affect yield and quality. Among biotic factors, eukaryotic diseases pose a significant threat to both seed production and fiber quality, which highlights the economic importance of controlling these diseases. This review focuses on the major eukaryotic diseases that affect flax in the field, describing the pathogens, their transmission modes and the associated plant symptoms. Moreover, this article aims to identify the challenges in disease management and provide future perspectives to overcome these biotic stresses in flax cultivation. By emphasizing the key diseases and their management, this review can aid in promoting sustainable and profitable flax production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flax: A Traditional Culture with Modern Advantages)

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