Genetic mapping in sunflowers

Abstract

Cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a member of the subtribe Helianthinae of the Compositae (Asteraceae) family (Seiler and Rieseberg 1997). The genus is a polyploid complex, with diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid species, and a basic chromosome number of 17 (Heiser and Smith 1955). There are 12 annual diploid species and 37 perennial species. North America is the center of diversity for sunflowers. Sunflowers were first cultivated by Native Americans in 1000 BC, were introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century, and were first grown as a source of edible oil in nineteenth century Russia. Russian plant breeders increased sunflower seed oil concentrations from 330g/kg up to as much as 550g/kg between 1940 and 1965 and developed the first high oil cultivars (Putt 1997). These cultivars dramatically transformed sunflower as an oilseed crop and they have been widely used in the development of modern-day cultivars and hybrids — a significant fraction of the diversity in elite inbred lines traces to high-oil germplasm developed in Russia (Korell et al. 1992; Cheres and Knapp 1998).KeywordsLinkage GroupDowny MildewCleave Amplify Polymorphic SequenceRFLP MarkerHelianthus AnnuusThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.