The genome analysis and domestication of sunflowers are progressing.

A paper published recently in Nature reports on a high-quality sunflower reference genome.
this resource will serve as a reference for future research to help people use genetic diversity to improve sunflower resistance and oil production, taking into account agricultural constraints and human nutritional needs.
sunflowers are a global oil crop.
sunflowers show signs of adapting to climate change by maintaining stable yields under a variety of environmental conditions, including drought.
until recently, it was difficult for researchers to assemble the sunflower genome because it consisted mainly of highly similar related sequences.
Nicolas Langlade of the National Agricultural Research Institute in Castaneto Lausanne, France, and colleagues sequenced the genomes of domesticated sunflowers and performed comparative and genome-wide analyses that shed inspiration for the evolutionary history of a class of flowering plants, chrysanthemums.
they also found new candidate genes and reconstructed the genetic network of flowering and fat metabolism, two breeding features, and found that flowering networks were shaped by recent genome-wide multiplies.
means that for tens of millions of years, ancient transverse allogeneic genes (those produced by multiplies in the genome) can remain in the same regulatory network.
researchers concluded that their research strengthens the sunflower's position as a model for biological, evolutionary and climate change adaptation research and helps accelerate sunflower breeding.
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