Canola oil having increased oleic acid and decreased linolenic acid content

A Brassica plant containing at least one recombinant nucleic acid construct, said at least one construct comprising:

• a) a regulatory sequence fragment operably linked to a wild-type microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase coding sequence fragment;
• and
• b) a regulatory sequence fragment operably linked to a wild-type microsomal delta-15 fatty acid desaturase coding sequence fragment,
• said plant exhibiting a seed-specific reduction in native delta-12 and native delta-15 desaturase gene expression, wherein said plant produces seeds yielding an oil having an oleic acid content of 80% or greater, an .alpha.-linolenic acid content of about 2.5% or less and an erucic acid content of less than about 2%, said oleic acid content, linolenic acid content and erucic acid content determined after hydrolysis of said oil.

A method of producing an endogenous oil from Brassica seeds, comprising the steps of:

• a) creating at least one transgenic Brassica plant having a seed-specific reduction in microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase gene expression and a seed-specific reduction in microsomal delta-15 fatty acid desaturase gene expression, wherein said transgenic plant contains at least one recombinant nucleic acid construct, said at least one construct comprising a regulatory sequence fragment operably linked to a wild-type microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase coding sequence fragment and a regulatory sequence fragment operably linked to a wild-type microsomal delta-15 fatty acid desaturase coding sequence fragment;
• b) crushing seeds produced from said plant;
• and
• c) extracting said oil from said seeds, said oil having an oleic acid content of about 86% or greater and an erucic acid content of less than about 2%, said oleic acid content and erucic acid content determined after hydrolysis of said oil.

A method of producing an endogenous oil from Brassica seeds, comprising the steps of:

• a) creating at least one transgenic Brassica plant having a seed-specific reduction in microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase gene expression and a seed-specific reduction in microsomal delta-15 fatty acid desaturase gene expression, wherein said transgenic plant contains at least one recombinant nucleic acid construct, said at least one construct comprising a regulatory sequence fragment operably linked to a wild-type microsomal delta-12 fatty acid desaturase coding sequence fragment and a regulatory sequence fragment operably linked to a wild-type microsomal delta-15 fatty acid desaturase coding sequence fragment;
• b) crushing seeds produced from said plant;
• and
• c) extracting said oil from said seeds, said oil having an oleic acid content of about 80% or greater, an .alpha.-linolenic acid content of 2.5% or less and an erucic acid content of less than about 2%, said oleic acid content and erucic acid content determined after hydrolysis of said oil.