Mapping Genes Controlling Seed Yield and Traits Associated with Seed Characteristics in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Genome

One of the new methods in cultivar development is identification of DNA markers associated with genes controlling traits in order to use in marker assisted selection. In the present work، in order to identify QTLs associated with grain yield per plant andseed characteristics traits such as whole seed length، whole seed width، whole seed diameter، 100- whole seed weight، percentage of seed hull anddehulled kernel in sunflower، 70 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from the crossbetween PAC2 × RHA266 together with their parents were evaluated in a rectangular8´9 lattice design with two replications. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all studied traits. QTL-mapping was performed using a recently developed map with 210 SSRs and 11 SNPs with a mean density of 1 marker per 7. 44cM. 31 QTLs were detected for the studied traits. 54 percent of identified QTLs were co-localized. The percentage of phenotypic variance (R2) explained by QTLs ranged from 0. 05 to 64. 13%. The SSR markers ORS169 encompassing the QTLs for grain yield per plant and whole seed diameter could be good candidates for marker assisted selection.