Cultivated sunflower holds a very narrow genetic base and the efficient utilization of available genetic diversity is very important for a successful breeding program. In the present study, 109 sunflower genotypes were assessed for diversity paneling through a combined approach of morphological and molecular markers analysis. Morphological parameters including days to flower initiation, days to flower completion, plant height, stem curvature, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, head diameter, hundred seed weight, and seed yield per plant were studied. Simple sequence repeats (40 DNA markers) were deployed for diversity profiling. Data were analyzed by both univariate and multivariate statistics. SD and coefficient of variation confirm the presence of significant amounts of genetic variation for all the morphological parameters. Cluster Analysis and Principal Component Analysis further confirm the presence of distinct grouping patterns in the studied material. Cluster analysis of both morphological and molecular analysis revealed that restorer lines tend to group separately from A, B, and open-pollinated lines. Further grouping, at the sub-cluster level, revealed six distinct sub-clusters in each of the two major clusters. In total, 12 genotypes, 6 CMS lines (CMS-HAP-12, CMS-HAP-54, CMS-HAP-56, CMS-HAP-99, CMS-HAP-111, and CMS-HAP-112) and 6 restorer lines (RHP-38, RHP-41, RHP-53, RHP-68, RHP-69, and RHP-71) could be used as potential parents for hybrid development. As genotypes of similar genetic backgrounds tend to group closer, it is deduced that one genotype with the highest seed yield per plant could be used for further hybrid breeding programs in sunflowers.

Barani Agriculture Research Institute Chakwal Pakistan

Department of Agricultural Engineering Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan Pakistan

Department of Agrochemistry Soil Science Microbiology and Plant Nutrition Faculty of AgriSciences Mendel University in Brno Brno Czechia

Department of Agronomy MNS University of Agriculture Multan Pakistan

Department of Agronomy Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Rawalpindi Pakistan

Department of Biotechnology College of Science Taif University Taif Saudi Arabia

Department of Botany Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University Quetta Pakistan

Department of Botany University of Agriculture Faisalabad Pakistan

Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan Pakistan

Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi Rawalpindi Pakistan

Department of Soil and Environmental Science Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan Pakistan

National Agricultural Research Centre Islamabad Pakistan

Pedologiejh spol s r o Brno Czechia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Ahmad A., Aslam M. N., Qurashi F., Ashraf W., Raheel M., Shakeel Q., et al. . (2021). Molecular diversity and phylogenetic reconstruction of Pepper mild mottle virus isolates from Pakistan. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 10.35495/ajab.2020.09.464 DOI

Ahmad N., Raziuddin A. F., Iqbal T., Khan N., Nauman M., Hameed F. (2020). Genetic analysis of biochemical traits in F3 populations of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Asian J. Agric. Biol. 8, 491–500. 10.35495/ajab.2020.03.147 DOI

Akinwale R. O., Fakorede M. A. B., Badu-Apraku B., Oluwaranti A. (2014). Assessing the usefulness of GGE biplot as a statistical tool for plant breeders and agronomists. Cereal Res. Commun. 42, 534–546. 10.1556/CRC.42.2014.3.16 DOI

Al-Mehemdi A. F., Elsahookie M. M., Al-Issawi M. H. (2020). Analysis of genotype environment interaction in fennel using Sudoku design. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 8, 61–68. 10.35495/ajab.2019.07.314 DOI

Amiteye S., Appiah A. S., Boateng F., Kutufam J. T., Amoatey H. M. (2021). Physiological changes associated with Okra mosaic virus infection in field grown okra plants. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 2021, 202102097. 10.35495/ajab.2021.02.097 DOI

Antonova T. S., Guchetl S. Z., Tchelustnikova T. A., Ramasanova S. A. (2006). Development of marker system for identification and certification of sunflower lines and hybrids on the basis of ssr-analysis. Helia. 29, 63–72. 10.2298/HEL0645063A DOI

Aris A., Hasan Z. A. E., Shohaimi S., Saidi N. B., Zainudin N. A. I. M. (2020). Morphological, phylogenetic and pathogenicity characterisation of Fusarium species associated with wilt disease of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo Linnaeus). Asian J. Agric. Biol. 8, 75–84. 10.35495/ajab.2019.07.319 DOI

Arshad M., Ali N., Ghafoor A. (2006). Character correlation and path coefficient in soybean Glycine max (L.) Merrill. Pak. J. Botany. 38, 121–130.

Arshad M., Ilyas M. K., Khan M. A. (2007). Genetic divergence and path coefficient analysis for seed yield traits in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids. Pak. J. Botany. 39, 2009–2015.

Arshad M., Khan M. A., Jadoon S. A., Mohmand A. S. (2010). Factor analysis in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) to investigate desirable hybrids. Pak. J. Botany. 42, 4393–4402.

Aslam A., Khan S., Ibrar D., Irshad S., Bakhsh A., Gardezi S. T. R., et al. . (2021). Defensive impact of foliar applied potassium nitrate on growth linked with improved physiological and antioxidative activities in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids grown under salinity stress. Agronomy. 11, 1–15. 10.3390/agronomy11102076 DOI

Avin F. A., Nabipour A., Zali A., Shahbazi P., Arockiaraj J., Bhassu S. (2013). Identification of high diverse heterotic groups in sunflower inbred lines for further hybrid production. Res. Crop. 14, 492–499.

Ayana A., Bekele E. (1999). Multivariate analysis of morphological variation in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) germplasm from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 46, 273–284. 10.1023/A:1008657120946 DOI

Azad K., Shabbir G., Khan M. A., Mahmood T., Shah Z. H., Alghabari F., et al. . (2016). Combining ability analysis and gene action studies of different quantitative traits in sunflower by line x tester. Crop Res. 51, 1–4. 10.4172/2454-1761.1000107 DOI

Benchasri S., Simla S., Harakotr B. (2020). The effect of genotypic variability on the yield and yield components of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) in Thailand. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 8, 480–490. 10.35495/ajab.2019.12.597 DOI

Chandirakala R., Manivannan N. (2014). Genetic diversity among sunflower genotypes. electron. J. Plant Breed. 5, 577–580.

Cross R. J. (1992). A proposed revision of the IBPGR barley descriptor list. Theor. Appl. Genet. 84, 501–507. 10.1007/BF00229513 PubMed DOI

Darvishzadeh R., Azizi M., Hatami-Maleki H., Bernousi I., Mandoulakani B. A., Jafari M. (2010). Molecular characterization and similarity relationships among sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) inbred lines using some mapped simple sequence repeats. African J. Biotechnol. 9, 7280–7288. 10.5897/AJB10.902 DOI

Dewey D. R., Lu K. (1959). A correlation and path-coefficient analysis of components of crested wheatgrass seed production. Agron. J. 51, 515–518. 10.2134/agronj1959.00021962005100090002x DOI

Dudhe M. Y., Mulpuri S., Meena H. P., Ajjanavara R. R. G., Kodeboyina V. S., Adala V. R. (2020). Genetic variability, diversity and identification of trait-specific accessions from the conserved sunflower germplasm for exploitation in the breeding programme. Agric. Res. 9, 9–22, 10.1007/s40003-019-00406-w DOI

Enns H. (1959). A study of the inheritance and expressivity of some seedling characters in the sunflower, Helianthus annuus L (Master Thesis). Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, United States.

Erasmus T. E. (2008). Genetic diversity of proprietary inbred lines of sunflower, determined by mapped SSR markers and total protein analysis. Thesis of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Agricultural Science and Agribusiness Faculty of Science, University of KwaZulu Natal (Durban).

Falconer D. S., Mackay T. F. C. (1996). Introduction to Quantitative Genetics, Longman. Essex, Engl.

Farooq O., Ali M., Sarwar N., Rehman A., Iqbal M. M., Naz T. (2021). Foliar applied brassica water extract improves the seedling development of wheat and chickpea. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 2021, 1–7. 10.35495/ajab.2020.04.219 DOI

Filippi C. V., Merino G. A., Montecchia J. F., Aguirre N. C., Rivarola M., Naamati G., et al. . (2020). Genetic diversity, population structure and linkage disequilibrium assessment among international sunflower breeding collections. Genes 11, 283. 10.3390/genes11030283 PubMed DOI PMC

Gabriel K. R. (1971). The biplot graphic display of matrices with application to principal component analysis. Biometrika. 58, 453–467. 10.1093/biomet/58.3.453 DOI

Geng X., Qu Y., Jia Y., He S., Pan Z., Wang L., et al. . (2021). Assessment of heterosis based on parental genetic distance estimated with SSR and SNP markers in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). BMC Genom. 22, 1–11, 10.1186/s12864-021-07431-6 PubMed DOI PMC

Ghafari M. (2004). Use of principle component analysis method for selection of superior three way cross hybrids in sunflower. Seed and Plant. 19, 513–527.

Golabadi M., Golkar P., Shahsavari M. R. (2015). Genetic analysis of agro-morphological traits in promising hybrids of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Acta Agric. Slov. 105, 249–260. 10.14720/aas.2015.105.2.08 DOI

Gupta S. K., Nepolean T., Shaikh C. G., Rai K., Hash C. T., Das R. R., et al. . (2018). Phenotypic and molecular diversity-based prediction of heterosis in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L. (R.) Br.). Crop J. 6, 271–281. 10.1016/j.cj.2017.09.008 DOI

Hailu F., Merker A., Belay G., Johansson E. (2006). Multivariate analysis of diversity of tetraploid wheat germplasm from Ethiopia. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 53, 1089–1098. 10.1007/s10722-005-9776-3 DOI

Hasan E. U., Khan F. A., Habib S., Sadaqat H. A., Basra S. M. A. (2020). Genetic diversity and identification of trait-specific accessions for drought stress from sunflower germplasm. Pak. J. Agri. Sci. 57, 1236–1242. 10.21162/PAKJAS/20.6 DOI

Ibrar D., Khan M. A., Mahmood T., Ahmad M., Hafiz I. A., Jan S. A., et al. . (2018). Determination of heterotic groups among sunflower accessions through morphological traits and total seed storage proteins. Int. J. Agric. Biol. 20, 2025–2031. 10.17957/IJAB/15.0726 DOI

Ijaz U., Pervaiz T., Ahmed T., Seemab R., Muhammad S. M., Noman M., et al. . (2020). Plant cis-regulatory elements: methods of identification and applications. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 8, 207–222. 10.35495/ajab.2019.08.352 DOI

Ikram A., Aslam H. M. U., Atiq M., Amrao L., Ali S., Khan N. A., et al. . (2020). Screening of resistant germplasm against powdery mildew of pea and its management through nutrients and plant activators. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 8, 85–91. 10.35495/ajab.2019.10.441 DOI

Inacio P., Lewinsohn T., Carmo R. L., do Hogan D. J. (2002). Ordenação multivariada na ecologia e seu uso em ciências ambientais. Ambient. Soc. 2002, 69–83. 10.1590/S1414-753X2002000100005 DOI

Kaya Y., Atakisi I. K. (2004). Combining ability analysis of some yield characters of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Helia 27, 75–84. 10.2298/HEL0441075Y DOI

Khan S. A. (2006). Genetic regulation of seed yield and oil quality attributes in sunflower Helianthus annuus. L. (PhD thesis). Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan. Available online at: http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/handle/123456789//5252

Kholghi M., Bernousi I., Darvishzadeh R., Pirzad A., Maleki H. H. (2011). Collection, evaluation and classification of Iranian confectionary sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) populations using multivaraite statistical techniques. African J. Biotechnol. 10, 5444–5451. 10.5897/AJB10.2146 DOI

Kumar B. V., Parameshwarappa K. G., Lingaraju B. S. (2008). Genetic divergence in parental and inbred lines of sunflower. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci. 21, 339–342.

Kumar S. P. J., Susmita C., Sripathy K. V., Agarwal D. K., Pal G., Singh A. N. (2022). Molecular characterization and genetic diversity studies of Indian soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) cultivars using SSR markers. Mol. Biol. Rep. 49, 2129–2140. 10.1007/s11033-021-07030-4 PubMed DOI PMC

Lagiso T. M., Singh B. C. S., Weyessa B. (2021). Evaluation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) genotypes for quantitative traits and character association of seed yield and yield components at Oromia region, Ethiopia. Euphytica. 217, 1–18. 10.1007/s10681-020-02743-2 DOI

Leon A. J., Andrade F. H., Lee M. (2003). Genetic analysis of seed-oil concentration across generations and environments in sunflower. Crop Sci. 43, 135–140. 10.2135/cropsci2003.1350 DOI

Lochner T. C. (2011). Prediction of Heterotic Groups and Hybrid Performance in South African Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Germplasm Using SSR Analysis. Bloemfontein: University of the Free State.

Masvodza D. R., Gasura E., Zifodya N., Sibanda P., Chisikaurayi B. (2015). Genetic diversity analysis of local and foreign sunflower germplasm (Helianthus annuus) for the national breeding program. Zimbabwe. J. Cereal. Oilseeds. 6, 1–7. 10.5897/JCO2014.0130 DOI

Mohammadi S. A., Prasanna B. M. (2003). Analysis of genetic diversity in crop plants—salient statistical tools and considerations. Crop Sci. 43, 1235–1248. 10.2135/cropsci2003.1235 DOI

Muhammad S., Bacha S., Arshad M., Din R., Ghafoor A. (2009). Genetic diversity for determining yield potential and selection criteria in Pisum sativum (L.) genetic resources. Pak. J. Bot. 41, 2987–2993.

Mustafa H. S. B., Farooq J., Bibi T., Mahmood T. (2015). Cluster and principle component analyses of maize accessions under normal and water stress conditions. J. Agric. Sci. Belgrade. 60, 33–48. 10.2298/JAS1501033M DOI

Mustiga G. M., Gezan S. A., Phillips-Mora W., Arciniegas-Leal A., Mata-Quirós A., Motamayor J. C. (2018). Phenotypic description of Theobroma cacao L. for yield and vigor traits from 34 hybrid families in Costa Rica based on the genetic basis of the parental population. Front. Plant Sci. 9, 808. 10.3389/fpls.2018.00808 PubMed DOI PMC

Nasreen S., Fatima Z., Ishaque M., Mohmand A. S., Khan M., Khan R., et al. . (2011). Heritability analysis for seed yield and yield related components in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) based on genetic difference. Pak. J. Bot. 43, 1295–1306.

Nie Y., Ji W., Ma S. (2019). Assessment of heterosis based on genetic distance estimated using SNP in common wheat. Agronomy. 9, 66. 10.3390/agronomy9020066 DOI

Nikzad A., Kebede B., Pinzon J., Bhavikkumar J., Wang X., Yang R.-C., et al. . (2020). Potential of the C genome of the different variants of Brassica oleracea for heterosis in spring B. napus Canola. Front. Plant Sci. 10, 1691. 10.3389/fpls.2019.01691 PubMed DOI PMC

Noor F., Alshamrani R., Gull M., Mehmood M. A., Aslam S. (2021). Identification of conserved and novel mature miRNAs in selected crops as future targets for metabolic engineering. Asian J. Agric. Biol. 2021, 202012551. 10.35495/ajab.2020.12.551 DOI

Nyaga C., Gowda M., Beyene Y., Murithi W. T., Burgueno J., Toledo F., et al. . (2020). Hybrid breeding for MLN resistance: heterosis, combining ability, and hybrid prediction. Plants. 9, 468. 10.3390/plants9040468 PubMed DOI PMC

Peeters J. P., Martinelli J. A. (1989). Hierarchical cluster analysis as a tool to manage variation in germplasm collections. Theor. Appl. Genet. 78, 42–48. 10.1007/BF00299751 PubMed DOI

Punitha B., Vindhiyavarman P., Manivannan N. (2010). Genetic divergence study in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Electron. J. Plant Breed. 1, 426–430.

Ram J. J., Singh U. K., Singh S. K., Krishna B. (2018). Study of genetic diversity in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. Appl. Sci. 7, 2266–2272. 10.20546/ijcmas.2018.705.263 DOI

Rani M. (2016). Genetic variability and divergence in sunflower (Master Thesis: ). Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India.

Resende M. D. V., de Duarte J. B. (2007). Precision and quality control cultivars evaluation experiments. Trop. Agric. Res. 37, 182–194.

Ruzdik N. M., Karov I., Mitrev S., Gjorgjieva B., Kovacevik B., Kostadinovska E. (2015). Evaluation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) hybrids using multivariate statistical analysis. Helia 38, 175–187. 10.1515/helia-2015-0007 DOI

Saghai-Maroof M. A., Soliman K. M., Jorgenson R. A., Allard R. W. (1984). Ribosomal DNA spacer length polymorphism in barley: mendelian inheritance, chromosomal location and population dynamics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 81, 8014–8018. 10.1073/pnas.81.24.8014 PubMed DOI PMC

Sahranavard A. F., Darvishzadeh R., Ghadimzadeh M., Azizi H., Aboulghasemi Z. (2015). Identification of SSR loci related to some important agromorphological traits in different sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) lines using association mapping. Crop Biotechnol. 5, 73–87.

Shamshad M., Dhillon S. K., Tyagi V., Akhatar J. (2014). Assessment of genetic diversity in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) germplasm. Int. J. Agric. Food Sci. Tech. 5, 824–827. PubMed

Singh R. B., Mahenderakar M. D., Jugran A. K., Singh R. K., Srivastava R. K. (2020). Assessing genetic diversity and population structure of sugarcane cultivars, progenitor species and genera using microsatellite (SSR) markers. Gene. 753, 144800. 10.1016/j.gene.2020.144800 PubMed DOI

Skoric D. (1992). Achievements and future directions of sunflower breeding. F. Crop. Res. 30, 231–270. 10.1016/0378-4290(92)90003-R DOI

Sujatha H. L., Nandini R. (2002a). Assessment of genetic diversity among 51 inbred sunflower lines. Helia. 25, 101–108. 10.2298/HEL0237101S PubMed DOI

Sujatha H. L., Nandini R. (2002b). Genetic variability study in sunflower inbreds. Helia. 25, 93–100. 10.2298/HEL0237093S PubMed DOI

Suresha P. G., Kulkarni V. V., Supriya S. M., Darshan S., Patil C. B. (2017). Genetic diversity analysis in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) parental lines using SSR and RAPD markers. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci. 6, 2069–2076. 10.20546/ijcmas.2017.607.244 DOI

Tabrizi H. Z., Monirifar H., Rashidi V., Ghaffari M. (2009). Estimation of genetic diversity of sunflower single cross hybrids using principle components analysis. Res. J. Biol. Sci. 4, 978–981.

Tahir M. H. N., Sadaqat H. A., Bashir S. (2002). Correlation and path coefficient analysis of morphological traits in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) populations. Int. J. Agri. Biol. 4, 341–343.

Tang S., Yu J.-K., Slabaugh M. B., Shintani D. K., Knapp S. J. (2002). Simple sequence repeat map of the sunflower genome. Theor. Appl. Genetics. 105, 1124–1136. 10.1007/s00122-002-0989-y PubMed DOI

Zeinalzadeh-Tabrizi H., Haliloglu K., Ghaffari M., Hosseinpour A. (2018). Assessment of genetic diversity among sunflower genotypes using microsatellite markers. Mol. Biol. Res. Commun. 7, 143–152. 10.22099/mbrc.2018.30434.1340 PubMed DOI PMC

Zia Z. U., Sadaqat H. A., Tahir M. H. N., Sadia B., Bushman B. S., Hole D., et al. . (2014). Estimation of genetic diversity using SSR markers in sunflower. Russ. J. Genet. 50, 498–507. 10.1134/S1022795414050147 PubMed DOI