Genome scans reveal candidate domestication and improvement genes in cultivated sunflower, as well as post-domestication introgression with wild relatives.

• The development of modern crops typically involves both selection and hybridization, but to date most studies have focused on the former. In the present study we explore how both processes, and their interactions, have molded the genome of the cultivated sunflower, a globally important oilseed.
• To identify genes targeted by selection during the domestication and improvement of sunflower, and to detect post-domestication hybridization with wild species, we analyzed transcriptome sequences of 80 genotypes, including wild, landrace, and modern lines of Helianthus annuus, as well as two cross-compatible wild relatives, H. argophyllus and H. petiolaris.
• Outlier analyses identified 122 and 15 candidate genes associated with domestication and improvement, respectively. As in several previous studies, genes putatively involved in oil biosynthesis were the most extreme outliers. Additionally, several promising associations were observed with previously mapped QTLs, such as branching...

• 现代作物的培育通常同时涵盖选择育种与杂交育种，但截至目前绝大多数研究仅聚焦于前者。本研究旨在探究这两种过程及其交互作用，如何塑造了作为全球重要油料作物的栽培向日葵的基因组。
• 为鉴定向日葵驯化与改良过程中受选择靶向的基因，并检测其与野生近缘种在驯化后的杂交事件，我们分析了80份基因型的转录组序列，涵盖一年生向日葵（Helianthus annuus）的野生株系、地方品种及现代品系，同时纳入两个杂交亲和的野生近缘种：银叶向日葵（H. argophyllus）与叶柄向日葵（H. petiolaris）。
• 异常值分析分别筛选得到122个与驯化相关、15个与改良相关的候选基因。与此前多项研究结果一致，推测参与油脂生物合成的基因为最显著的异常候选基因。此外，还观测到多个与已定位数量性状位点（Quantitative Trait Loci, QTL）存在关联的潜在靶点，例如分枝相关性状……