In a semi-arid environment, the main challenge for crop production is water limitation in space and in time. Considered as appropriate tools, models are used to evaluate the effects of water deficit on crop productivity for better irrigation planning and sustainable yield. The AquaCrop model was tested using data collected during a 4-year experiment on soybean (Glycine max L. Merril) and s...

In order to investigate the mutation characteristics and to further examine the genetic variation of mutant sunflower (Helianthus annuus) obtained in plants grown from seeds exposed to space conditions, only the mature tissues such as leaf and flower could be used for DNA extraction after mutation characteristics were confirmed. The rich contents of polysaccharides, tannins, secondary metabolit...

Yield of some crops performs better in the intercropping than sole cropping system. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) canopy is fragile providing a lot of ground cover, hence, therefore, has a great potential to intercrop with a short stature and/or duration crop making it comparable for the better net return in a cropping system. Field experiment was, therefore, expressly conducted to study the...

Members of the CYCLOIDEA (CYC)/TEOSINTE-BRANCHED1 (TB1) group of transcription factors have been implicated in the evolution of zygomorphic (i.e., bilaterally symmetric) flowers in Antirrhinum and Lotus and the loss of branching phenotype during the domestication of maize. The composite inflorescences of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. Asteraceae) contain both zygomorphic and actinomorphic (i.e...

Recent advances in next-generation DNA sequencing technologies have made possible the development of high-throughput SNP genotyping platforms that allow for the simultaneous interrogation of thousands of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Such resources have the potential to facilitate the rapid development of high-density genetic maps, and to enable genome-wide association studies as well...

The hydraulic architecture of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cv. Margot) was studied in terms of the partitioning of the hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) of leaves inserted at progressively more apical nodes both in growing plants (GP) and in plants at full anthesis (mature plants, MP). Leaf conductance to water vapour (gL), leaf water potential (PsiL), leaf water potential at zero turgor (Psi tl...

Genetic diversity in modern sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivars (elite oilseed inbred lines) has been shaped by domestication and breeding bottlenecks and wild and exotic allele introgression(-)the former narrowing and the latter broadening genetic diversity. To assess single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies, nucleotide diversity, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) in modern cultiv...

The combination of large-scale population genomic analyses and trait-based mapping approaches has the potential to provide novel insights into the evolutionary history and genome organization of crop plants. Here, we describe the detailed genotypic and phenotypic analysis of a sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) association mapping population that captures nearly 90% of the allelic diversity prese...

Systemic insecticides used for ornamental horticulture crops can protect all portions of a plant with long-lasting effects. However, they may be hazardous to pollinators foraging on contaminated nectar or pollen. Two model plant cultivars were chosen based upon their ability to produce large quantities of pollen or nectar, enabling examination of the level of nectar or pollen contamination (e.g...