1. Genomics of Abiotic Stress Resistance in Wild and Cultivated Sunflowers
Investigators* Institution Expertise
Loren Rieseberg U. British Columbia Genomics
John Burke U. Georgia Genomics
Lisa Donovan U. Georgia Ecophysiology
Emily Marden U. British Columbia IP, Policy, & Regulation
Brent Hulke USDA ARS Fargo Molecular Breeding
*present at Face-to-Face meeting

2. The Challenge

3. Cultivated Sunflower
Globally important – seed production valued at $20 billion US
Hybrid seed valued at $1 billion US, second only to maize
Canada produces ~125,000 tonnes of sunflower seeds yearly
Production expected to expand with climate change
Priority food security crop
Excellent genomic resources due to previous investment by Genome Canada
Collaborator & End User - Walter Anyanga

4. Wild Sunflowers
Flooding & salt tolerant sunflower
Numerous wild extremophile sunflowers cross-compatible with cultivated sunflower
Salt & drought tolerant sunflower
Drought tolerant sunflower
Low-nutrient tolerant sunflower

5. Major Goals
Exploit sunflower crop-wild diversity to identify alleles that confer tolerance to drought, salt, low nutrient, and flooding stress, but with minimal yield trade-offs;
Create germplasm resources to efficiently deliver these alleles to end users (sunflower breeders);
Enable development and use of resistant, high-yielding cultivars that increase productivity of marginal lands in Canada and elsewhere.

6. Alignment with RFA
Project addresses following focal topics of RFA (p. 5):
meeting the caloric demands of population growth;
improving crop health;
adapting crops to climate change; and
lessening their footprint on the environment.
Drought tolerant line in Uganda
Sunflower oil in Serere, Uganda

7. Project Overview + Crop Germplasm (Activity 1)
• Population genomics of stress resistance
- Range-wide sampling of extremophile species
- Environmental data (climate, soil, water)
Wild Relatives (Activity 2)
• GWAS of drought, salt, flood, nutrient stress
- HTP + traditional phenotyping
• Mechanistic analyses of stress resistance
Crop Germplasm (Activity 1)
Scientific Outcomes:
System level understanding of abiotic stress resistance
Validation of candidate genes, potential extension to other oilseeds
Deliverables:
"Next generation” germplasm resources
Central data mining and analysis resource
Models for predicting yields of resistant sunflower cultivars across Canada
Strategic recommendations for mitigating barriers to R&D caused by treaties
Anticipated Scientific Outcomes and Deliverables
Development & characterization of MAGIC populations (Activity3)
Functional analyses of candidate genes (Activity 4)
GE3LS – Develop crop yield models (Activity 5)
GE3LS – Explore how international treaties impact germplasm use (Activity 6)
Crop + Wild (Activities 3-6) +

8. HIGH-THROUGHPUT PHENOTYPING
Project Team
BIOINFORMATICS
Burke (U. Georgia)
Kubach (SAP AG)
Rieseberg (UBC
Yeaman (U. Calgary)
GENOMICS & PHYSIOLOGY
Burke (U. Georgia)
Donovan (U. Georgia)
Hulke (USDA)
Langlade (INRA)
Parrott (U. Georgia)
Rieseberg (UBC)
Yeaman (USDA)
GERMPLASM & BREEDING
Anyanga (NaSARRI)
Conque, (Biogemma)
Gerdes (NuSeed)
Hulke (USDA)
Marek (USDA)
May (AgCanada)
Wieckhorst (KWS)
Xiao (Dow)
Zambelli (Advanta)
GEL3S
Marden (UBC)
Ramankutty (UBC)
HIGH-THROUGHPUT PHENOTYPING
Andrade-Sanchez (U. Arizona)
Bali (DREC)
Langlade (INRA)

9. Benefits to Canada & Developing World
Next Generation Germplasm
Enhanced Molecular Breeding
Project years 2-4
Strategies for Reducing Barriers to Ag Innovation
Sunflower Breeding Programs
Training of HQP
Crop Yield Models
Data Mining Tools
GE3LS
Gene Editing
Mutations Introduced into Soybean
HQP from Project enter Workplace
Environmentally Resilient Cultivars in Field
Within 5 years
Greater Clarity on Application of Treaty
Increased Efficacy of Resistance Alleles
Increased
food security
Improved crop health
Adaptation to climate change
Reduced environmental impacts

10. Sunflower, a global oil seed
Globally important – seed production valued at $20 billion US
Priority food security crop
Excellent genomic resources due to previous investment by Genome Canada