Interspecific hybrids of sunflower as a source of Sclerotinia resistance

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is considered the most devastating pathogen of sunflower grown in humid environments. In this study, progenies of partial hybrids between Helianthus maximiliani, a wild species that has been shown to be resistant to S. sclerotiorum, and H. annuus were characterized by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis to identify whether there are introgressions from H. maximiliani into the cultivated sunflower at the molecular level. Wild species‐specific fragments as well as fragments not found in either parent were detected. Progenies tended to cluster together according to the original partial hybrids in the dendrogram by the use of bootstrap procedures. The progenies were studied for their reaction to S. sclerotiorum using artificial inoculation of sunflower heads. Some of the progenies showed a higher level of resistance compared with resistant inbred lines. It was possible to identify two AFLP‐fragments which seem to be linked to Sclerotinia resistance.