Resumo

ALEZONES, Betzabeth; CASANOVA, Ana  e  LAURENTIN, Hernán. Morphological and molecular characterization of sunflower segregant populations coming from commercial hybrids. Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2014, vol.64, n.1-2, pp.83-95. ISSN 0002-192X.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) cultivation in Venezuela is a suitable alternative to national oil production, which would contribute to overcome a long-time deficit in the country. Seed suply is a critical step in Venezuelan sunflower production, as it is imported; therefore, it is necessary to begin a national seed production program including sunflower breeding programs. The objective of this research was to characterize morphological and molecularly three segregating populations coming from three commercial hybrids, in order to determine its suitability as basic population in future selection schemes. Eighteen morphological variables were recorded on 120 plants coming from three segregating populations, and five RAPD primers were applied using DNA from 24 plants per population. Frequency distribution, mean tests, and principal components analysis revealed a wide morphological variability within each population. Plant height, number of ray flowers, and bract length were the most variable morphological attributes. Principal coordinates analysis based on 22 RAPD fragments also displayed a wide variability within populations. Genetic variability identified by morphological and molecular characterization made segregating populations, coming from commercial hybrids, good candidates to be used as basic population for breeding programs aiming to obtain national cultivars adapted to venezuelan production conditions.

Palavras-chave : Helianthus annuus L.; plant breeding; hybrid; RAPD; open pollinated.

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