Comparative phenotypic and metabolic analysis of Helianthus species for improve stress resilience

Abstract

The species of the genus Helianthus have very broad spectrum of life forms since they occupy diverse habitats. Cosmopolitan distribution of these species could be explained by a number of anatomical and physiological mechanisms that create the basis for survival of the plants in a wide variety of habitats. At the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops (IFVCNS), Novi Sad, there is one of the largest collection of annual and perennial sunflower species, interspecific hybrids, sunflower varieties, lines and hybrids worldwide (http://www.nsseme.com/about/inc/oilcrops/wild.php). This collection has been actively used in breeding as a source of disease resistance and abiotic stress resistance genes. Within the framework of ongoing projects, we have started to perform comparative phenotypic and metabolic analysis of genotypes chosen from IFVCNS collection in order to identify morphological and metabolic parameters of various plant organs that could be useful tools for detection of genotypes tolerant to different environmental stresses. This will be further complemented by molecular analyses for identification of QTLs correlated to abiotic and biotic stresses. The final aim of this combined approach to stress resilience study in sunflowers is to identify genotypes with desirable traits that could be further included in sunflower breeding programs and creation of highly productive stress resistant hybrids, as well as to create an ideotype specific for certain agro-ecological conditions.