Brian C. Smart, Brady D. Koehler, Christopher G. Misar, Thomas J. Gulya, Brent S. Hulke
Abstract: Sclerotinia diseases and Phomopsis stem canker, among the most serious diseases threatening the success of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) production across the world, have been of increasing concern in recent history, and there is a need for additional inbred lines with resistance to these diseases. While breeding new lines capable of thriving in agricultural landscapes riddled with these widespread diseases, it is essential that lines also exhibit other desirable traits such as high yield potential, satisfactory fatty acid composition (e.g., high oleic acid), and herbicide tolerance (e.g., to imidazolinones), along with overall agronomic performance suitable to the northern Great Plains climate in the United States, and similar climates across other continents. A maintainer inbred germplasm line, HA 482 (Reg. no. GP‐364, PI 690015), and two restorer inbred germplasms, RHA 483 (Reg. no. GP‐365, PI 690016) and RHA 484 (Reg. no. GP‐366, PI 690017), have been developed with the pedigree breeding method, evaluated through the use of testcross hybrid trials for both disease resistance and agronomic traits, and released by the USDA–ARS, Fargo, ND. All three lines have high oleic acid composition in the seed oil and exhibit resistance to Sclerotinia and Phomopsis stem canker, and both RHA 483 and RHA 484 are imidazolinone tolerant.
To view article click here.