Secretory Tissues and Volatile Components of Disc Florets in Several Wild L. Species.

Although flower pollinator interactions are known to be mediated by floral traits, not enough attention has been paid to the research of secretory tissues and volatile components of sunflower disc florets as potentially important parameters in breeding programs. (1) To our knowledge, this is the first integrated study aimed at better understanding the attractiveness of sunflower capitula to insects. In the study, we have made a very detailed comparative analysis of secretory tissues and the characterization of the volatile components (VOCs) of disc florets in 10 wild perennial species.

Oil yield prediction for sunflower hybrid selection using different machine learning algorithms.

Due to the increased demand for sunflower production, its breeding assignment is the intensification of the development of highly productive oil seed hybrids to satisfy the edible oil industry. Sunflower Oil Yield Prediction (SOYP) can help breeders to identify desirable new hybrids with high oil yield and their characteristics using machine learning (ML) algorithms. In this study, we developed ML models to predict oil yield using two sets of features.

KASP Markers Specific for the Fertility Restorer Locus and Application for Genetic Purity Testing in Sunflowers ( L.).

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were significantly associated with fertility restoration of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) PET1 by the restorer gene . For these SNPs, four Kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers were successfully designed. The KASP markers cover the fertility restorer locus , spanning about 3 Mb, and clearly differentiate restorer and maintainer lines.

Genetic Improvement in Sunflower Breeding-Integrated Omics Approach.

Foresight in climate change and the challenges ahead requires a systematic approach to sunflower breeding that will encompass all available technologies. There is a great scarcity of desirable genetic variation, which is in fact undiscovered because it has not been sufficiently researched as detection and designing favorable genetic variation largely depends on thorough genome sequencing through broad and deep resequencing. Basic exploration of genomes is insufficient to find insight about important physiological and molecular mechanisms unique to crops.

Genetic and Genomic Tools in Sunflower Breeding for Broomrape Resistance.

Broomrape is a root parasitic plant causing yield losses in sunflower production. Since sunflower is an important oil crop, the development of broomrape-resistant hybrids is the prime breeding objective. Using conventional plant breeding methods, breeders have identified resistant genes and developed a number of hybrids resistant to broomrape, adapted to different growing regions worldwide.

Development and Validation of Markers for the Fertility Restorer Gene in Sunflower.

Hybrid breeding in sunflowers based on CMS PET1 requires development of restorer lines carrying, in most cases, the restorer gene . Markers for marker-assisted selection have been developed, but there is still need for closer, more versatile, and co-dominant markers linked to . Homology searches against the reference sunflower genome using sequences of cloned markers, as well as Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC)-end sequences of clones hybridizing to them, allowed the identification of two genomic regions of 30 and 3.

Sunflower Genetics from Ancestors to Modern Hybrids-A Review.

Domestication and the first steps of sunflower breeding date back more than 4000 years. As an interesting crop to humans, sunflower underwent significant changes in the past to finally find its place as one of the most significant oil crops today. Substantial progress has already been made in understanding how sunflower was domesticated.