Brian Smart

Brent Hulke, Jill Moser Abstract: A primary concern of oilseed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) breeders in developing commercial hybrids is the constitution of the oil product, particularly the fatty acid composition. Over time, mutation breeding and selection has led to sunflower varieties with very high levels of oleic acid, which increases oxidative stability of the […]

Lexuan Gao, Joon Seon Lee, Sariel Hübner, Brent S. Hulke, Yan Qu, Loren H. Rieseberg Abstract: Given the rising risk of extreme weather caused by climate change, enhancement of abiotic stress resistance in crops is increasingly urgent. But will the development of stress‐resistant cultivars come at the cost of yield under ideal conditions? We hypothesize

Zahirul Talukder, Guojia Ma, Brent Hulke, Chai-chien Jan, Lili Qi Abstract: Commercial hybrid seed production in sunflower currently relies on a single cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) source, PET1 and the major fertility restoration gene, Rf1, leaving the crop highly vulnerable to issues with genetic bottlenecks. Therefore, having multiple CMS/Rf systems is important for sustainable sunflower

Jarrad Prasifka, Rachel Mallinger, Zoe Portlas, Brent Hulke, Karin Fugate, Travis Paradis, Marshall Hampton, Clay Carter Abstract: Floral nectar and other rewards facilitate crop pollination, and in so doing, increase the amount and breadth of food available for humans. Though pollinator abundance and diversity (particularly bees) have declined over the past several decades, a concomitant

Brent Hulke, Guojia Ma, Lili Qi, Thomas Gulya Abstract: Sclerotinia head and stalk rots [caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary] are among the most devastating diseases in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Breeding for resistance to these diseases is complicated by the quantitative inheritance of the resistance, for which there are few genes of major

Brent Hulke, William May Abstract: Northward expansion and double crop use of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is limited by the lack of commercial hybrids with early maturity. We seek to provide the sunflower industry with new, early maturing restorer inbred germplasms with high yield potential and favorable agronomic and seed oil traits, specifically resistance to