The sunflower genome provides insights into oil metabolism, flowering and Asterid evolution.

1. LIPM, Université de Toulouse, INRA, CNRS, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
Authors
Badouin H¹
Gouzy J¹
Grassa CJ^{1,

3}
Cottret L¹
Carrère S¹
Mayjonade B¹
Legrand L¹
Blanchet N¹
Boniface MC¹
Catrice O¹
Fievet G¹
Lippi Y¹
Lorenzon L¹
Marage G¹
Marchand G¹
Pegot-Espagnet P¹
Pouilly N¹
Sallet E¹
Thomas J¹
Varès D¹
Mangin B¹
Muños S¹
Vincourt P¹
Langlade NB¹
(24 authors)
2. INRA/UBP UMR 1095 GDEC (Genetics, Diversity and Ecophysiology of Cereals), Clermont Ferrand 63100, France.
Authors
Murat F²
Vear F²
Salse J²
(3 authors)
3. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Authors
Grassa CJ^{1,

3}
Staton SE³
Owens GL³
Gill N³
Kane NC³
Hubner S³
Chaidir N³
King M³
Morien E³
Nguyen T³
Raftis F³
Rieseberg LH^{3,

12}
(12 authors)
4. Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay (IPS2), CNRS, INRA, University of Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France.
Authors
Lelandais-Brière C⁴
Crespi M⁴
(2 authors)
5. Department of Plant Biology, Miller Plant Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
Authors
Bowers JE⁵
Burke JM⁵
(2 authors)

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ORCIDs linked to this article

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Nature, 22 May 2017, 546(7656):148-152
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22380 PMID: 28538728

A comment on this article appears in "Genome sequencing: Illuminating the sunflower genome." Nat Plants. 2017 Jun 12;3:17099. A comment on this article appears in "Genomics: Sunflowers sequenced." Nature. 2017 May 31;546(7656):43.

Abstract

The domesticated sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., is a global oil crop that has promise for climate change adaptation, because it can maintain stable yields across a wide variety of environmental conditions, including drought. Even greater resilience is achievable through the mining of resistance alleles from compatible wild sunflower relatives, including numerous extremophile species. Here we report a high-quality reference for the sunflower genome (3.6 gigabases), together with extensive transcriptomic data from vegetative and floral organs. The genome mostly consists of highly similar, related sequences and required single-molecule real-time sequencing technologies for successful assembly. Genome analyses enabled the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of the Asterids, further establishing the existence of a whole-genome triplication at the base of the Asterids II clade and a sunflower-specific whole-genome duplication around 29 million years ago. An integrative approach combining quantitative genetics, expression and diversity data permitted development of comprehensive gene networks for two major breeding traits, flowering time and oil metabolism, and revealed new candidate genes in these networks. We found that the genomic architecture of flowering time has been shaped by the most recent whole-genome duplication, which suggests that ancient paralogues can remain in the same regulatory networks for dozens of millions of years. This genome represents a cornerstone for future research programs aiming to exploit genetic diversity to improve biotic and abiotic stress resistance and oil production, while also considering agricultural constraints and human nutritional needs.