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
Sam Yeaman U Calgary Bioinformatics
Navin Ramankutty U. British Columbia Agricultural Land Use

2. The Challenge
Flooding
10%
Low nutrient
22%
Salt
10%
Fraction of world's arable land affected by abiotic stresses targeted by this project
Source: Dimensions of need - An atlas of food and agriculture (

3. Sunflower, a global oil seed
Seed production valued at $20 billion US
Hybrid seed valued at $1 billion US, second only to maize
Priority food security crop
Production in Canada & worldwide to expand with climate change
Source:
Collaborator & 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. 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. 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 (Activity 3)
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) +

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

8. 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 & More Informed Decisions on Production of Resistant Cultivars
Increased Efficacy of Resistance Alleles
Increased
food security
Improved crop health
Adaptation to climate change
Reduced environmental impacts