Development of Perennial Sunflower to Provide Food and Ecosystem Services.

Perennial crops have been suggested as a way to increase sustainable agricultural production, while providing multiple ecosystem services (Glover et al., 2010). Tetraploid interspecific hybrids (2n = 4x =68) between the perennial Helianthus tuberosus L. (2n = 6x = 102) and annual H. annuus L. (2n = 2x = 34) are currently being examined for use as a perennial crop (Hulke and Wyse, 2008; Cox et al., 2010). Experimental populations have shown a simple segregation pattern (3:1) for the phenotype of tuber production (Kantar et al., 2014). Here we explore the improvements that have been made utilizing recurrent selection for domestication syndrome phenotypes. In addition, we are beginning to examine genotypes of individuals utilizing genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) to generate SNPs within the tetraploid interspecific hybrid population. SNPs derived from the population can then be used for linkage mapping and for trait association. Positive associations can be used for marker assisted selection to increase the throughput of perennial sunflower breeding programs.