The genome of Helianthus annuus -- the common or garden sunflower -- is larger than that of human beings and was extremely complex to crack, according to an eight-year study published in the prestigious journal Nature by a team that included Israeli scientist Dr. Sariel Hubner. Hubner, a researcher with the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute and a faculty member of the Biotechnology Department at Tel-Hai College in northern Israel, said the study was conducted as part of a joint project between academic institutions and seed companies from around the world with the goal of cracking the sunflower genome. A genome is a full set of chromosomes that comprises all inheritable traits of an organism. "The big challenge is not only the size and complexity of the genome, but also the fact that more than 85% of the genome is comprised of highly similar repeats," Hubner said. While in Israel sunflowers are grown mainly for their seeds, which are a favorite snack, the flowers are mainly farmed elsewhere to produce sunflower oil, which is considered more nutritious and of higher quality than some other oils used in cooking. Aside from its importance as a food source, the sunflower is used as a model plant in evolution and ecology studies that examine the process by which new species are created in response to global warming, population dynamics, and other factors. Despite extensive research on sunflowers, this study is the first to crack the flower's genome. Now that the code has been unlocked, genetic research on plants in the Asteraceae -- daisy -- family and the process of developing new sunflower varieties that are more resistant to environmental changes and that produce higher-quality oil are expected to proceed more quickly.
