Published July 19, 2018 RESEARCH Genetic Diversity of a Germplasm Collection of Confectionery Sunflower Landraces from Spain B. Pérez-Vich, M. R. Aguirre, B. Guta, J. M. Fernández-Martínez, and L. Velasco* Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (IAS-CSIC), Alameda del Obsipo ABSTRACT s/n, 14004 Córdoba, Spain. Received 14 Feb. 2018. Accepted 1 June Native to North America, non-oilseed, confec- 2018. *Corresponding author (
[email protected]). Assigned to tionery sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has Associate Editor Stella Kantartzi. been traditionally cultivated in Spain since its Abbreviations: AMOVA, analysis of molecular variance; He, expected introduction from the New World in the 16th heterozygosity; IAS-CSIC, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible–Consejo century. This created great genetic diversity Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; INIA, National Institute for in the form of local landraces, whose charac- Agricultural Research; PCoA, principal coordinates analysis; PCR, terization and conservation is of paramount polymerase chain reaction; PIC, polymorphic information content; importance. In this research, several seed and SSR, simple sequence repeat. plant traits, as well as flowering time, were evaluated in a collection of 192 landraces of confectionery sunflower from Spain. Evalu- unflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is currently a major crop ation was conducted in Córdoba, Spain, in Sat the world scale, with an annual production over 40 Tg of 2011, 2012, and 2013. The greatest variability grains (FAOSTAT, 2017). Around 90% of sunflower production is was observed for hundred-seed weight (4.21– dedicated to oil extraction, while the major part of the remaining 19.68 g), plant height (65.00–361.67 cm), head 10% corresponds to non-oilseed or confectionery sunflower.