MOLECULAR ASSESSMENT OF RUST RESISTANCE IN SUNFLOWER

¹ QABC, Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Level 4, Gehrmann Laboratories, The University of Queensland, 4072, QLD, Australia

² Queensland Department of Primary Industries, PO Box 102, Toowoomba, 4350, QLD, Australia

³ Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Plant Pathology, Level 5, John Hines Building, The University of Queensland, 4072, QLD, Australia

⁴ AgrEvo Oilseeds Research Unit, Charles Stuart University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia

The sustainable production of sunflower is greatly affected by the presence of the pathogen, Puccinia helianthi. Sub- tropical and tropical sunflower producing regions, particularly Australia, are most affected by this disease. In Australia, there has been an exponential increase in the appearance of virulent rust races which seriously compromise the production of hybrids with suitable, durable rust resistance. In this project, we have identified molecular based markers closely linked to several rust resistance genes. Most of these markers have been converted to dominant PCR assays to allow the efficient screening of germplasm. Through this study it is predicted that at least three rust resistance loci exist: one of which is a cluster of 6-10 genes, as well as a fertility restoration factor gene. The ability to strategically recombine useful resistance genes/loci will facilitate the overall goal of producing sunflower germplasm with durable rust resistance.