In the last years many efforts have been made to develop sunflower cultivars showing important agronomical characteristics such as herbicide resistance. These approaches have been focused mainly on resistance to herbicides with the same mode of action that is acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) inhibitors. To date four induced and natural AHAS mutations have been found that confer resistance to these herbicides and many of these alleles are being used for the production of sunflower hybrids resistant to herbicides and to develop different non-transgenic technologies for weed control. However little is known about the bases of non-target-site-based resistance (NTSR) developing cross-resistance to herbicides with different modes of action in sunflower. These mechanisms diminish the number of active herbicide molecules that reach the target and are generally polygenic. Elucidating the nature of NTSR would allow evaluating maximal efficiency conditions for the herbicide and would enable to establish weed management strategies in sunflower crop. Nowadays mining of NTSR genes can be more easily accomplished taking advantage of up-to-date omics-based approaches: high-throughput techniques involving genomics transcriptomics proteomics and metabolomics. Considering the difficulties in the discovery of new compounds with a broad spectrum of weed control it results essential to broaden the use of former herbicides which are highly efficient and ecologically desirable. Full understanding of NTSR mechanisms in sunflower would allow detecting specific genes potentially useful as biotechnological tools for the phytoremediation of herbicides and modern plant breeding.

The article colligates data of studies on the variability of quantitative and qualitative traits in mutant sunflower M 1 -M 3 generations affected by dimethyl sulfate (DMS) (0.01 0.05 %) and gamma rays (120; 150 Gy) frequencies and range of mutations in M 2 and their inheritance in mutant families chromosome aberrations in meiosis as well as on the breeding and genetic value of induced mutants and possibilities of their use in breeding. The methodical peculiarities of the mutational breeding of the cross-pollinating crop were defined and new mutants with changed features were created. Investigating new homozygous self-pollinated sunflower lines we observed a more negative mutagenic impact of gamma irradiation (120 and 150 Gy) on the germinability of M 1 sunflower seeds in the field compared with the DMS effect (0.01 and 0.05 %). The field germinability of DMS-treated seeds was 83–87 % vs. 11–15 % of gamma-irradiated ones. The mutagenic effect of gamma rays (120 and 150 Gy) on M 1 meiosis was shown to be stronger than that of DMS (0.01 and 0.05 %). The percentage of cells with alterations varied within 15.79–18.78 % (120 Gy) and 20.38–25.26 % (150 Gy) compared to 0–0.16 % in the control. The effect of gamma rays on the frequency of morphoses in M1 was stronger in particular after exposure to 120 Gy or 150 Gy of gamma irradiation the number of plants with alterations was 43 % whereas after DMS treatment (0.01 and 0.05 %) this parameter averaged 27–28 %. We determined the inheritance of mutations of quantitative and qualitative traits which are important for breeding in mutant M2 families and selected mutant families with inherited altered traits that can be considered as mutations. Among the best mutations there are morphological mutants with marker traits mutants with increased content of oil in seeds increased 1000-seed weight increased contents of behenic linoleic and palmitoleic acids as well as with absolute resistance to downy mildew.

Developing hybrids resistant to causal pathogen of Downy mildew ( Plasmopara halstedii (Farl.) Berl. & de Toni) is one of the critical tasks in sunflower breeding. Molecular markers have advanced breeding practice in the past decades however there are still unmet needs for reliable high-throughput (HT) selection of the pathogen resistant starting material and differentiation of the plants infected by different pathogens. In this study we tested the known DNA marker (308 bp fragment from ribosomal DNA of P. halstedii ) for detection of pathogen in different tissues of sunflower plant and at different stages of plant development. Specified DNA marker was re-validated in the total DNA isolated from sporangium as well as from seedlings of infected pathogen resistant/susceptible inbred lines of Ukrainian breeding and 60 F 2 crosses. An independent set of field grown plants with unknown resistance to P. halstedii having symptoms of the bacterial/fungal/viral pathology were used for HT screening and genotypes infected with downy mildew were successfully identified. Pathogen appeared to be concentrated in the vessels of sunflower leaves in contrast to parenchymal tissue. Our study demonstrates an addition to whole seedling inoculation technique of P. halstedii detection which allows HT identification of the pathogen infected and non-infected sunflower plants.

Publicly supported collections of cultivated germplasm are one of the key sources of new genes for crop improvement. VNIIMK is the leading organization in oil and essential oil crop breeding and seed growing in the Russian Federation with more than a century-long history. Sunflower varieties created by V.S. Pustovoit at VNIIMK became the basis for the development of the modern sunflower varieties worldwide. In the present study 186 sunflower lines from the VNIIMK collection were characterized based on their genotype and general morphological and phenological economically-important traits. Additionally for 99 sunflower lines fatty acid content seed oil content seed husk content 100-seed weight and seed number in the head were determined. Sequencing of RAD-libraries and the subsequent analysis have identified 65553 variants including SNPs and indels. LD analysis revealed substantial variability across the genome. The longest LD blocks (>5000 Kb) were found in the linkage groups 1 5 and 17. The analysis revealed significant genetic and phenotypic diversity of the VNIIMK sunflower collection. Novel significant associations with linolenic acid content in the seeds were found on LGs 8 9 and 17.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the best performing lines in sunflower on the basis of phenotypic and genotypic correlation so that we can find out the which trait directly or indirectly effect the yield and quality of the sunflower because being an breeder our main aim is yield and quality and the lines which are performing best can be further used in the breeding programs. Sunflower is a valuable oil producing crop because it contains good quality oil composition and can be grown twice in a year. There is scarcity of oil in our country so that there is requisite to heighten the yield of sunflower in order to exploit its share in oilseed sector. The study was conducted at the research field of Rajawala farm University of Agriculture Faisalabad during year 2015–16 to study the correlation among yield related traits oil and protein content in Sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.). 20 sunflower lines were sown in randomized complete block design with three replications. Data was assessed at maturity for plant height leaves per plant leaf area head diameter internode length 100-achene weight achene yield per plant oil contents and protein contents. Genotypic and phenotypic correlation was estimated among these traits. The recorded data was subjected to statistical analysis of variance correlation and path coefficient analysis. The line G-16 showed best performance for leaf area head diameter and achene yield per plant. Line G-20 was good in 100 achene weight. The above mentioned lines could be used in future breeding programs for effective improvement in yield of sunflower. This data was helpful to select superior lines and these lines may also be used in further hybridization program to get better yield oil and protein contents.

The present research aimed to study gene effects for oil content and fatty acid composition in sunflower. It involved a set of 92 hybrids developed by crossing four CMS lines with 23 perfect restorers. Experiment was conducted at experimental field area of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana Punjab India. The data was recorded on oil content and quality traits. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the traits studied. Among the lines; CMS 42A was observed to have higher significant positive gca effects for oil content linoleic acid & linolenic acid and higher significant negative gca effects for palmitic acid and stearic acid whereas for oleic acid line CMS 40A had higher positive gca effects. Among the testers TSG 275 had higher significant positive gca effects for linolenic acid and significant negative gca effects for stearic acid. High positive gca effects for oleic acid and oil content were observed for TSG 331. The tester OPH 91 was good combiner with high positive gca effects for oleic acid and negative gca effects for palmitic acid whereas tester TSG 288 exhibited highest positive gca effects for linoleic acid. The best cross combinations; CMS 40A×TSG 259 CMS 607A×TSG 271 and CMS 40A×OPH 73 showed significant specific combining ability effects for oil content and cross CMS 40A×TSG 289 had significant specific combining ability for oleic acid and linoleic acid. The cross combination CMS 40A×TSG 259 is giving a significant jump of over 12 % against the current commercial check for oil percentage and for other quality traits more than 50 % over the standard check which is significant for undertaking improvement of hybrid for oil quality.

In breeding programs it is imperative to recognize the genetic variations and levels of association between traits that directly or indirectly affect the yield. Achene yield and related traits in forty-nine sunflower genotypes were studied for genetic variability correlations and path coefficient analysis. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for the all the studied traits in sunflower. The most active association of achene yield was found with achene/head 100-achene weight and plant height. However oil contents had a negative association with achene filling percentage 100-achene weight number of leaves and stem diameter. The maximum direct influence on achene yield were exerted by head diameter followed by achene filling percentage 100 achene weight achene/head and number of leaves. In contrast plant height days to maturity and stem diameter had the negative direct impact on yield. The genetic correlations were higher than phenotypic correlations which suggest that environmental influences were very low. Our results showed that achene/head 100 achene weight plant height and head diameter are important plant traits which should be considered while planning any breeding program for higher achene yield in sunflower.

Sunflower is one of the most profitable crops in Russia. Research was carried out in a multivariate experiment in two 10-course crop rotations with long stationary monitoring. The influence of the crop rotation type and fertilizer doses on sunflower yield and its economic efficiency were studied. The soil is heavy black soil with low humus content arable in layer – 3.90–4.05 %. It was found that it is appropriate and cost-effectively to introduce N 20 P 30 under a sunflower and with sufficient provision of soil mobile phosphates it is possible to apply some nitrogen fertilizer at 40 kg per ha.

Two field trials were conducted on the Research Farm of the Institute of Food Security Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research Nigeria during the late cropping seasons (Jun.–Nov.) of 2014 and 2015 to evaluate the agronomic performance of four recently released sunflower varieties (SAMSUN-1 SMASUN-2 SAMSUN-3 and SAMSUN-4) to three fertilizer regimes: Control Split application of 30 kg N + 28 kg P 2 O 5 at 21 days after sowing (DAS) and at anthesis and Single application of 60 kg N and 56 kg P 2 O 5 at 21DAS. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design using a 3 × 4 factorial arrangement and replicated three times. Data were collected on phenology plant height seed yield and yield attributes and quality. The varietal effect was only significant in 2015 for head weight a number of achene per head and 100 achene weight. Application of N and P fertilizer either as split or single significantly ( P ≤ 0.05; F -test) enhanced plant height at R5 and R9 100 achene weight achene weight per head and grain yield in both years. Single application resulted in significantly ( P ≤ 0.05) higher grain yield in 2014 than the split and control and was on par with a split. Significant variety × fertilizer regime was recorded for protein content in 2014 and 2015 and oil content in 2015. Therefore a single application of N and P fertilizers at 21 WAS is recommended for adoption in the humid tropics to enhance seed and oil production of SAMSUN-3 and SAMSUN-4.