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Updated: Jun 19, 2025

Author Spotlight: Innovative Approaches to Understanding Plant Structure-Function Relationships for Climate-Resilient Crops
Published on: July 12, 2024
Dissecting the Genetic Architecture of Morphological Traits in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)
Yavuz Delen1, Semra Palali-Delen1,2, Gen Xu2
1Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
Abstract:
The sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the most essential oil crops in the world. Several component traits, including flowering time, plant height, stem diameter, seed weight, and kernel weight, determine sunflower seed and oil yield. Although the genetic mechanisms governing the variation of these yield-related traits have been studied using various approaches, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have not been widely applied to sunflowers. In this study, a set of 342 sunflower accessions was evaluated in 2019 and 2020 using an incomplete randomized block design, and GWAS was conducted utilizing two complementary approaches: the mixed linear model (MLM) and the fixed and random model circulating probability unification (farmCPU) model by fitting 226,779 high-quality SNPs. As a result, GWAS identified a number of trait-associated SNPs. Those SNPs were located close to several genes that may serve as a basis for further molecular characterization and provide promising targets for sunflower yield improvement.
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Some of Mendel’s crosses examined three pairs of contrasting characteristics. Such a cross is called a trihybrid cross. A trihybrid cross is a combination of three individual monohybrid crosses. For example, plant height (tall vs. short), seed shape (round vs. wrinkled), and seed color (yellow vs. green).
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