title: Genetic diversity in Carthamus tinctorius (Asteraceae; safflower), an underutilized oilseed crop.
abstract: •
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Underutilized crops are potentially valuable resources for meeting increasing food demands. Safflower, an oilseed crop, is an example of one such underutilized crop that thrives in moisture-limited areas. Characterization of the genetic diversity maintained within the gene pools of underutilized crops such as safflower is an important step in their further development.•
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 190 safflower individuals, including 134 USDA accessions, 48 breeding lines from two private North American safflower breeding companies, and eight wild safflower individuals, were genotyped using 133 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We then used the resulting data to assess the amount and distribution of genetic diversity within and among these collections of safflower.•
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although just a modest reduction in gene diversity was observed in the commercial breeding lines (relative to the other safflower groupings), safflower domestication was accompanied by a significant decrease in allelic richness. Further, our results suggest that most safflower breeding lines originated from a single pool of diversity within the Old World safflower germplasm.•
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together, our results suggest that both the safflower germplasm collection and related, wild species harbor previously undocumented genetic diversity that could help fuel future improvement efforts. Paired with analyses of functional diversity, the molecular resources described herein will be thus be useful in the continued development of safflower as an oilseed crop.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Miller Plant Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Pearl
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, Miller Plant Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burke
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001947:Breeding; D031187:Carthamus tinctorius / Q000235:genetics*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D010938:Plant Oils; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D010938:Plant Oils
keywords: Asteraceae; Carthamus tinctorius; crop improvement; genetic diversity; germplasm; introgression; plant breeding; population structure; safflower; underutilized crop