Oat oil is an important quality characteristic for the end users of oat ('Avena sativa' L.) and oat products. The objective of this study was to investigate the inheritance of oil content and composition and identify markers linked to genes affecting oat oil using a linkage map. Two hundred and twenty three lines from an F7 population of a cross between the high oil cultivar AC Ma ie (approximately 5 percent oil) and the low oil cultivar Cascade (approximately 3.5 percent oil) were analyzed for fatty acid composition. Correlations (P = 0.01) between total oil content and palmitic, oleic and linoleic fatty acids were found to be 0.92, 0.94, and 0.97 respectively. Results indicated that a single gene was responsible for control of each different fatty acid and for total oil content. Near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy was used to analyze an 80 line subpopulation of the AC arie/Cascade lines. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) *AFLP is a registered trademark of Keygene Inc.