Seed Fatty Acid Profiling Study of Wild Helianthus Species.

The sunflower (Helianthus) genus contains 50 species with 14 annual and 36 perennial species   Wild sunflower species have shown genetic variability which has been utilized to introgress favorable agronomic characteristics into elite DAS sunflower germplasm.  Examples of traits utilized from wild sunflowers include H. petiolaris and H. praecox which are sources for disease resistant genes to Verticillium dahliae, and H. argophyllus as a source for resistance genes to downy mildew and sunflower rust.  Resistance genes from H. maximilianii and H. grosseserratus have been used to control the Broomrape.   Helianthus niveus, H. petiolaris and H. deserticola have high concentrations of oil content and certain species of H. annuus have low concentrations of saturated fatty acids.  The objective of this study was to characterize the fatty acid composition of achene oil from 376 accessions from 24 wild sunflower species obtained from the USDA-ARS Northern Crop Regional Plant Introduction Station