Pennycress: A Winter Annual Cover Crop and Biofuel Feedstock.

Pennycress (Thalspi arvense) is a winter annual oilseed that is being developed for a cover crop and biofuel feedstock. Pennycress is planted in the fall, overwinters in the soil as a basal rosette, and flowers and produces seed in the spring, allowing it to be used as a double crop in the traditional corn and soybean rotation. Pennycress provides the benefits of a cover crop, without displacing commodity crops and while serving as an additional source of income for farmers. An otherwise undomesticated species, a breeding program was initiated for pennycress at the University of Minnesota. Eighty pennycress accessions were collected from the USDA-GRIN libraries as well as wild selections and were planted in two observation field trials in St. Paul, Minnesota. Accessions were surveyed for growth habit (winter vs. spring), winterhardiness, basal width (as a reflection of soil cover), height, yield, lodging, vigor as well as oil quality and quantity. Previous yield trials identified four well-adapted MN accessions, which were used as parents in a series of 130 crosses (including back crosses and three-way crosses) and single seed descent was carried out in growth chambers to develop inbred lines for field selection and yield trials. Focus traits for selection include winter growth type, yield, oil quality/quantity, weed suppression, lodging and basal width. Further, bulked seed from TAMN106, a high yielding, well-adapted MN accession were exposed to various levels of Fast Neutron and Gamma irradiation to induce random mutations and progeny will be assessed for desirable mutations including reduced glucosinolate content and improved oil quality.