•Eighteen wild sunflower species showed variation in morpho-anatomical and micromorphological characteristics of achene.•Anatomical and micromorphological features of pericarp can be correlated with ...technical and technological traits of achene.•Chemical composition of the cuticular layer corresponds to the wax crystals formation.•Important traits are identified for improvement of yield potential.•This research provides a framework for future preservation of wild species.
Although the anatomy of the sunflower achene has been extensively studied, not enough attention is given to the research of the pericarp characteristics as potentially important parameters in the breeding programme. Therefore, we considered that it was important to make very detail comparative analysis of morpho-anatomical characteristics of achene as well as miromorphological and n-alkane characteristics of epicuticular wax of the 18 wild perennial Helianthus species. For anatomical analyses cross-sections were obtained from the middle part of pericarp using cryotechnique procedure. Micromorphological observation, morphological and anatomical analysis of pericarp were performed using Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The composition of the epicuticular n-alkanes was characterized by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses. Results showed differences in the distribution of phytomelanin pigment among the species. Denser phytomelanin network in the species H. salicifolius, H. resinous, H. tuberosus, and H. hirsutus may be connected with better resistance to insects and mechanical damages. Species H. resinosus, H. giganteus, and H. hirsutus are characterized by the highest percentage of cuticle and sclerenchyma thickness in the pericarp which can be a predictor of mechanical resistance to biotic and abiotic factors. Species H. strumosus, H. maximiliani, and H. grosseserratus are characterized with thin pericarp, poorly developed cuticle and epicuticle wax, as well as thin sclerenchyma tissue. In the pericarp waxes, C29 was the dominant alkane but several samples had n-alkanes longer than C33.
These long-chain n-alkanes may be related to drought tolerance in some species. Obtained results of pericarp characteristics can be useful for improving technical and technological properties of the achene as well as for preservation of collection of wild sunflower species.
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 3.9 Mb, respectively, as possible physical locations of the restorer gene
on linkage group 13. Nine potential candidate genes, encoding six pentatricopeptide repeat proteins, one tetratricopeptide-like helical domain, a probable aldehyde dehydrogenase 22A1, and a probable poly(A) polymerase 3 (PAPS3), were identified in these two genomic regions. Amplicon targeted next generation sequencing of these nine candidate genes for
was performed in an association panel consisting of 27 maintainer and 32 restorer lines and revealed the presence of 210 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and 67 Insertions/Deletions (INDELs). Association studies showed significant associations of 10 SNPs with fertility restoration (
-value < 10
), narrowing
down to three candidate genes. Three new markers, one co-dominant marker 67N04_P and two dominant markers, PPR621.5R for restorer, and PPR621.5M for maintainer lines were developed and verified in the association panel of 59 sunflower lines. The versatility of the three newly developed markers, as well as of three existing markers for the restorer gene
(HRG01 and HRG02, Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence (CAPS)-marker H13), was analyzed in a large association panel consisting of 557 accessions.
The sunflower is a significant oil crop that can thrive in various environmental conditions. However, due to the changing climate, the pathogen profile has been altered, posing a threat to sunflower ...production. Among the various threats, charcoal rot, caused by the soil-borne fungus Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid, is one of the most significant. This study aimed to assess the resistance of 79 sunflower inbred lines to this pathogen using two inoculation methods (toothpick method and unwounded stem base inoculation) and natural disease occurrence in field trials spanning two years. The results showed that both inoculation methods and natural disease occurrence effectively differentiated between resistant and susceptible inbred lines, with the toothpick method being the most effective. Thirteen inbred lines were resistant, 16 were susceptible, and the others were moderately resistant or susceptible. The study identified four inbred lines (MA SC 2, L 1, Ha 74, and PB 21) as the most resistant, making them important sources for breeding sunflower hybrids resistant to M. phaseolina. Their resistance was confirmed in the second year, highlighting their potential to combat the impact of climate change on sunflower production. This study represents a valuable insight into the biological control of M. phaseolina using sunflower resistant genotypes, especially since resistance findings have been lacking in other plant 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 Helianthus species. (2) For anatomical analyses, cross-sections were obtained from the nectary zone of disc florets using a cryotechnique procedure. Micromorphological observation and morphological and anatomical analysis of disc florets were performed using light and scanning electron microscopy. For VOCs, we applied headspace, GC-FID, and GC/MS analyses. (3) The obtained results indicate that there is a difference between the analyzed traits among studied species. H. eggertii, H. hirsutus, H. mollis, H. resinosus, and H. tuberosus had high disc diameter values, a high cross-section area and disc floret corolla length, as well as the largest cross-section area and thickness of the disc florets nectary. In the analyzed VOCs, 30 different compounds were detected. The highest yield and quantity of α-Pinene was observed in H. mollis. (4) Inflorescence features, such as receptacle diameter, corolla and secretory tissue properties, and floret VOCs production and characterization, provided valuable information that can be used as guidelines in sunflower breeding programs to maximize pollinator attractiveness and increase seed yield.
The knowledge about the magnitude and nature of variability that is present
in a breeding population is an important prerequisite for designing
efficient breeding programme in order to improve the ...yield potential of
genotypes. The objective of this research was to evaluate heritability and
genetic advance of important quantitative traits in new crosses of sunflower
as well as to evaluate ratio of dominant and recessive genes in parental
genotypes. The plant material selected for this research consisted of 6
sunflower genotypes, which according to literary data possess important
characteristics for the production of sunflower. According to presented
results there is significant variability of evaluated quantitative traits.
Phenotypic variance was higher than genotypic demonstrating strong
environment effect in expression of traits. The broad sense heritability was
found very high for plant height (83.25%), high for 1000 seed weight
(69.33%), moderate for seed yield/plant (46.53%) and head diameter (56.89%),
while low for oil content (29.35%). Genetic advance expressed as a
percentage of the mean ranged between 2.23% and 19.96%. Placement of array
points displayed that the highest frequency of dominant genes for seed
yield/plant, 1000 seed weight and head diameter was found in parental
genotype Rodnik. Position of expected line of regression pointed over
dominance in inheritance for seed yield/plant, oil content and head
diameter, while for 1000 seed weight and plant height additive gene action
played role in inheritance suggesting that selection in early generations
for these traits will be effective. By testing the coefficients of
regression interallelic interaction was not determined.
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. Moreover, we evaluated the most relevant features for accurate SOYP. ML algorithms that were used and compared were Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Support Vector Regression, K-Nearest Neighbour, and Random Forest Regressor (RFR). The dataset consisted of samples for 1250 hybrids of which 70% were randomly selected and were used to train the model and 30% were used to test the model and assess its performance. Employing MAE, MSE, RMSE and R2 evaluation metrics, RFR consistently outperformed in all datasets, achieving a peak of 0.92 for R2 in 2019. In contrast, ANN recorded the lowest MAE, reaching 65 in 2018 The paper revealed that in addition to seed yield, the following characteristics of hybrids were important for SOYP: resistance to broomrape (Or) and downy mildew (Pl) and maturity. It was also disclosed that the locality feature could be used for the estimation of sunflower oil yield but it is highly dependable on weather conditions that affect the oil content and seed yield. Up to our knowledge, this is the first study in which ML was used for sunflower oil yield prediction. The obtained results indicate that ML has great potential for application in oil yield prediction, but also selection of parental lines for hybrid production, RFR algorithm was found to be the most effective and along with locality feature is going to be further evaluated as an alternative method for genotypic selection.
Bearing in mind that the sunflower production in Serbia is extensive, it is
very important to select a hybrid that will achieve stable and high seed and
oil yields in different enviromental ...conditions. The objective of the study
was to identify the most stable sunflower hybrids for seed and oil yield
using AMMI model analysis. Nine newly developed early, medium early and
medium late hybrids were tested. Hybrids were grown in different locations
across Northern Serbia during two growing seasons (2013-2014). Selected
locations are geographically close, but environmentally different in terms
of soil, rainfalls and temperature, thus creating a specific microclimate
conditions for sunflower growing. Pooled analysis of variance for seed and
oil yield showed that the main effects of hybrids, environments and their
interaction were highly significant. The agro-ecological environment E3 is
most favourable for achieving high seed and oil yields, but E9 was the most
stable. According to results of AMMI model, the most stable hybrids for the
seed and oil yield, i.e. the lowest interaction with the enviroment, were
NS2, NS8 and NS9. The obtained results indicate that hybrids can be
recommended for production in different environments in Serbia; NS2 hybrid
as early-growing, stable for oil yield; NS8 and NS9, medium-late hybrids,
high productivity potential and suitable for all production systems.
The research describes the field comparison of 81 decorative sunflower
genotypes. In order to assess genetic diversity of sunflower genotypes the
studies were conducted in the field conditions during ...2010-2015 at the
Institute of Field and Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia. The genetic diversity of
species Helianthus annuus L. has enabled the breeding work in the direction
of the decorating and plant landscaping. Depending on the qualitative and
quantitative characteristics, production of decorative sunflowers can be
divided into three directions. The first line is for the production of cut
flowers, the second one is for garden production and the third line is for
the production of pot plants. The direction of production dictates the main
breeding objectives, which may include: plant architecture, the color of ray
and disc flowers and duration of flowering. Investigation of the genetic
variability of ornamental sunflowers relies on quantitative traits of which
the greatest variability was observed in branching and plant height, which
are also the most important qualities for production. The quantitative
characteristics of decorative sunflowers have been examined on the basis of
81samples.
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. (2) For anatomical analyses, cross-sections were obtained from the nectary zone of disc florets using a cryotechnique procedure. Micromorphological observation and morphological and anatomical analysis of disc florets were performed using light and scanning electron microscopy. For VOCs, we applied headspace, GC-FID, and GC/MS analyses. (3) The obtained results indicate that there is a difference between the analyzed traits among studied species.
,
,
,
, and
had high disc diameter values, a high cross-section area and disc floret corolla length, as well as the largest cross-section area and thickness of the disc florets nectary. In the analyzed VOCs, 30 different compounds were detected. The highest yield and quantity of α-Pinene was observed in
. (4) Inflorescence features, such as receptacle diameter, corolla and secretory tissue properties, and floret VOCs production and characterization, provided valuable information that can be used as guidelines in sunflower breeding programs to maximize pollinator attractiveness and increase seed yield.
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