THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HETEROSIS AND GENETIC DISTANCES BASED ON SSR MARKERS IN HELIANTHUS ANNUUS

In this paper, the level of heterosis of F1 hybrids, genetic diversity of parental lines based on SSR markers, as well as its connection with specific combining ability of sunflower were studied. Ten sunflower elite inbred lines (3 restorer lines and 7 cytoplasmic male sterility lines) and their hybrids were examined for plant height, seed yield, thousand seed mass, oil content and husk content. Field tests were carried out in 5-6 seasons. The level of heterosis was calculated using measurement of midparent heterosis. Genetic distance between pairs of tested sunflower inbred lines ranged from 0.45 to 0.74. Significant positive correlation was found between genetic distances among lines, measured using SSR markers and midparent heterosis for seed yield of hybrids (r = 0.79 p