Development of inbred lines of sunflower with various oil qualities

Abstract

The cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is one of most important oil crops in the world. Although sunflower is primarily grown for extraction of oil there is a limited production of non-oilseed types used for confections or as a bird feed. The objective of this research was the development of B- and R-lines with stable and high oleic acid content and modified tocopherol composition, with high GCA and SCA values for the two most important agronomic characters (seed yield and oil yield) and high tolerance to Phomopsis. B-lines [Lg-21 (tph1, Ol), Lg-24 (tph1, tph2) Lg-25 (tph2, Ol)] and R-lines (near-isogenic lines for three genes, i.e., Tph1, Tph2 and Ol–VK 66) were used as donors of tph1 and tph2 recessive alleles and Ol gene, in a backcross program with lines for high GCA and SCA values and high tolerance to Phomopsis: B-lines (Ha-74, Ha-98 CMS-III-8) and R-lines (RHA-583, RHA-576, RHA-SEL, RHA-SNRF). Tocopherol composition was determined by thin-layer chromatography followed by the Emmerie-Engel reaction and densitometer quantification. The screening for oleic acid content was performed by gas liquid chromatography. The program of incorporation of tph1 and tph2 alleles was based on the backcross method for the recessive traits of sunflower seeds, which includes the selfing of backcrossed plants and simultaneous individual crossing with the recurrent line. As a result of this investigation we made a set of new inbred lines with high or normal content of oleic acid and modified tocopherol composition which may be used for developing materials with certain levels of oleic and linoleic acids and a desirable content of alpha, beta, gamma and delta-tocopherol. As a final result, a set of specialty oils might be obtained for human consumption and industrial purposes.