Geographic variation in hexane extractable hydrocarbons in natural populations of Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae, Sunflowers) II

Authors: ADAMS, ROBERT - Baylor University; LAVIN, MATTHEW - Montana State University; Seiler, Gerald

Submitted to: Phytologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/4/2018
Publication Date: 6/22/2018
Citation: Adams, R.P., Lavin, M., Seiler, G.J. 2018. Geographic variation in hexane extractable hydrocarbons in natural populations of Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae, Sunflowers) II. Phytologia. 100(2):153-160.

Interpretive Summary: Developing plant species as alternative sources of fuels, chemicals, feeds, and other important materials, particularly for industrial nonfood uses could reduce our nation's dependency on foreign sources of many strategic and essential materials and stimulate economic growth in the United States. Crop wild relatives of sunflower consist of 53 species occurring in a wide range of habitats with the most common one, wild annual sunflower, occurring in a variety of habitats. Previous studies have evaluated this species for hydrocarbons, which indicated that there are populations with useful levels of total hydrocarbons from the leaves for breeding and selection. The current study expands the range of the populations examined to include species ranging from eastern Oklahoma to North Dakota, to coastal southern California. The highest hydrocarbon yields were observed from species in the Texas Panhandle, while the lowest were from species in North Dakota-Minnesota. Population variability in hydrocarbons yield varied geographically, and between adjacent populations, suggesting the micro-habitat environments are important, as well as small populations size. These studies indicate that in wild annual sunflower simultaneously breeding for increased yield of hydrocarbons and biomass are achievable.

Technical Abstract: Populations of Helianthus annuus L., ranging from eastern Oklahoma to North Dakota, to coastal southern California were sampled and the yields of total hydrocarbons (HC) from leaves determined. The highest yielding populations were in the Texas Panhandle (6.0 - 7.99%) and the lowest yields were in Camp Verde, AZ, NM mountains, Bozeman, MT, and ND-MN. Medium-high yields were found in northern UT and southern ID. Three populations near Waco, TX had large yield differences ranging from 4.9 to 6.2%, but a fourth population had a low 3.6%. Some native populations were contaminated by germplasm from cultivated sunflowers and these populations had very low yields (2.6 to 3.6%). Population variability in HC yields varied geographically and also between nearby populations, suggesting the micro-habitat environments are important as well as limited genetic population size.