Dragana Miladinović

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Head of Climate Crops Centre of Excellence at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops

The commonly cultivated as oil crop, sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) also encompasses a number of varieties that are classified as ornamental. Ornamental sunflowers could be grown as cut flowers, in gardens, and as potted plants. Their primary appeal lies in the beauty of their flowers, therefore flower traits, such as the colour, size, and shape...

Drought stress significantly threatens crop productivity worldwide, requiring a comprehensive understanding of plant adaptations to alleviate its adverse effects. Sunflower, as an important source of edible oil, is greatly affected by drought in different developmental stages. This review investigates the morphological aspects and phenological adap...

Field trials (FTs) are a necessary step towards future commercialization of biotech crops and products thereof, whether for research and development or cultivation approval. A total of 187 FTs in 30 countries have been compiled for 2022 and 2023 using a survey and intergovernmental databases. FTs have been classified according to methods, crops and...

Efficient water supply and timely detection of drought stress in crops to increase yields is an important task considering that agriculture is the primary consumer of water globally. This is particularly significant for plants such as sunflowers, which are an important source of quality edible oils, essential for human nutrition. Traditional detect...

Global agricultural productivity and food security are threatened by climate change, the growing world population, and the difficulties posed by the pandemic era. To overcome these challenges and meet food requirements, breeders have applied and implemented different advanced techniques that accelerate plant development and increase crop selection...

Suncokret je sve više izložen negativnim uticajima klimatskih promena, posebno visokim temperaturama i sušnim periodima, što neretko uzrokuje značajne varijacije i smanjenje prinosa semena. S obzirom na to da se klimatske promene ne mogu zaustaviti, neophodno je identifikovati promene u biljci koje omogućavaju prilagođavanje na ekstremne klimatske...

Although flower pollinator interactions are known to be mediated by floral traits, not enough attention has been paid to the research of secretory tissues and volatile components of sunflower disc florets as potentially important parameters in breeding programs. (1) To our knowledge, this is the first integrated study aimed at better understanding...

One of the major challenges that plant breeders face in the 21st century is food safety for growing human population coupled with extreme climate changes. Accordingly, the most important breeders' goal is to find appropriate methods in response to these challenges in order to create high-yielding varieties resilient to abiotic and biotic stressors....

Suncokret je sve više izložen negativnim uticajima klimatskih promena, posebno visokim temperaturama i sušnim periodima, što neretko uzrokuje značajne varijacije i smanjenje prinosa semena. S obzirom na to da se klimatske promene ne mogu zaustaviti, neophodno je identifikovati promene u biljci koje omogućavaju prilagođavanje na ekstremne klimatske...

Genome editing is a technology that has been embraced swiftly and enthusiastically by plant researchers, innovators and breeders across the world in the past decade. Its impact can hardly be overestimated. A quick search for “plant genome editing” in the Web of Science shows over 8300 scientific publications in 2013–2023, with a steady and consider...

Genome editing – the focus of this book – is a set of methods that provide opportunities to precisely and efficiently improve crop traits by tailoring genes and regulatory domains. In combination with genetic modifications (GM), RNA interference (RNAi), epigenetics and the range of -omics technologies, they offer multiple methods for enhancing crop...

Crop cultivars in commercial use have often been selected because they show high levels of resistance to pathogens. However, widespread cultivation of these crops for many years in the environments favorable to a pathogen requires durable forms of resistance to maintain “healthy crops”. Breeding of new varieties tolerant/resistant to biotic stresse...

Due to the increased demand for sunflower production, its breeding assignment is the intensification of the development of highly productive oil seed hybrids to satisfy the edible oil industry. Sunflower Oil Yield Prediction (SOYP) can help breeders to identify desirable new hybrids with high oil yield and their characteristics using machine learni...

Sunflower is the fourth most important oil plant worldwide and the second most important oil crop in Europe, along with rapeseed. Due to its high content of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as vitamin E, sunflower oil is the preferred type of oil in human nutrition in Europe. That is why, as opposed to other different vegetable oils, c...

Promena klime dovodi do ekstremnih klimatskih fenomena, kao što su šuše, poplave, toplotni talasi, a vegetaciona sezona 2022. godine je bila pravi pokazatelj tih promena. Suncokret je u 2022. godini u Srbiji zabeležio i jednu od rekordnih posejanih površina na oko 275.000 hektara. Razlog sve većoj zastupljenosti ove vrste na njivama širom naše žeml...

Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges facing human society. It has great impact on agricultural production, as a whole. It significantly influences biology, ecology, occurrence, and distribution of plant pests (insects, pathogens, and weeds), pest–host plant interactions, and activity of natural enemies. Indirectly, altered clima...

Climate change and increased agricultural uncertainty are affecting agricultural resilience and sustainability. Climate change causes various abiotic stresses such as heat stress, drought, waterlogging, and cold stress that are affecting yield and quality of agricultural crops. Plant stresses trigger different and significant changes in plant gene...

The fast adaptation to different growing conditions of a fungus Macrophomina phaseolina, led to its becoming one of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) disease causal agents in regions with a temperate climate. Methods currently used to determine sunflower resistance require laborious manual inoculation and confirmation of pathogen appearance, due...

Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are recognized as the best potential source of traits for crop improvement. However, successful crop improvement using CWR relies on identifying variation in genes controlling desired traits in plant germplasms and subsequently incorporating them into cultivars. Epigenetic diversity may provide an additional layer of vari...

The Pannonian Plain, as the most productive region of the South-East Europe, has a long tradition of agronomical production as well as agronomical research and plant breeding. Many research institutions from agri-food sector of this region have a significant impact on agriculture. Their well-developed and fruitful breeding programmes resulted in pr...

Sunflower is considered more tolerant and adaptable to abiotic stresses than many other crops. It can be successfully grown in marginal soils and in semiarid conditions. Hence, sunflower crop stands a very good chance of surviving a changing environment with its broad genetic base and the use of emerging—omics technologies. In the future, it will b...

Sunflower, a relevant crop for oil production in temperature regions, is subjected to various biotic stresses. Significance of a particular stress agent, both spatially and temporally, is determined by the environmental limitations and the pest population variability. This chapter provides a review of the major sunflower diseases and pests, with an...

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were significantly associated with fertility restoration of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) PET1 by the restorer gene Rf1. For these SNPs, four Kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers were successfully designed. The KASP markers cover the fertility restorer locus Rf1, spanning about 3 Mb, and clearly d...

Crop adaptation to climate change is in a part attributed to epigenetic mechanisms which are related to response to abiotic and biotic stresses. Although recent studies increased our knowledge on the nature of these mechanisms, epigenetics remains under-investigated and still poorly understood in many, especially non-model, plants, Epigenetic modif...

Variations in temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric CO concentration due to global warming and climate change signi cantly a ect crop production. For example, recent studies have shown that each degree Celsius increase in the global mean temperature would, on average, reduce global yields of wheat by. %, rice by. %, maize by. %, and soybean b...

Although epigenetic modifications have been intensely investigated over the last decade due to their role in crop adaptation to rapid climate change, it is unclear which epigenetic changes are heritable and therefore transmitted to their progeny. The identification of epigenetic marks that are transmitted to the next generations is of primary impor...

Foresight in climate change and the challenges ahead requires a systematic approach to sunflower breeding that will encompass all available technologies. There is a great scarcity of desirable genetic variation, which is in fact undiscovered because it has not been sufficiently researched as detection and designing favorable genetic variation large...

Key message This review illustrates how far we have come since the emergence of GE technologies and how they could be applied to obtain superior and sustainable crop production. Abstract The main challenges of today’s agriculture are maintaining and raising productivity, reducing its negative impact on the environment, and adapting to climate chan...

The most of the research work on camelina has been carried out in northern America and continental Europe. Two breeding groups (IFVCNS and BOKU) and one group focusing on the agronomy (DISTAL) just recently started research activities focusing on the development of new genotypes more adapted for southern regions of Europe. Common field trials, with...

The genetic variability of 13 rapeseed genotypes created in Serbia was assessed at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, in three consecutive years. The genotypes were evaluated and classified based on 10 quantitative traits (plant height, height to the first branch, stem width, number of lateral branches, number of leaves, number o...

Except agronomic important traits, great diversity in sunflower is present in morphological traits which are very useful in breeding studies. The main objective of the paper was to determine genetic diversity among the 110 inbred lines in the collection of Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops Novi Sad (IFVCNS) by screening 34 morphological traits...

Plant genetic resources are a link between agriculture, environment and trade, so their conservation requires cooperation from different sectors. The existing diversity in genetic resources is the foundation in breeding for new challenges or new markets in the future. The number of crop genetic resources in Serbia is obscure because there is no nat...

As an esthetic trait, ray floret color has a high importance in the development of new sunflower genotypes and their market value. Standard methodology for the evaluation of sunflower ray florets is based on International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) guidelines for sunflower. The major deficiency of this methodology is...

The seed yield and oil yield of NS sunflower hybrids in the small-plot trials in Bačka and Banat in 2019 were examined. The highest average seed yield in both Bačka and Banat was achieved by the hybrid NS Ronin (4.64 and 4.17 t / ha, respectively) and the smallest by NS Oscar (3.71 and 3.41 t / ha, respectively). The highest average seed yields wer...

To better adapt transiently or lastingly to stimuli from the surrounding environment, the chromatin states in plant cells vary to allow the cells to fine-tune their transcriptional profiles. Modifications of chromatin states involve a wide range of post-transcriptional histone modifications, histone variants, DNA methylation, and activity of non-co...

Broomrape is a root parasitic plant causing yield losses in sunflower production. Since sunflower is an important oil crop, the development of broomrape-resistant hybrids is the prime breeding objective. Using conventional plant breeding methods, breeders have identified resistant genes and developed a number of hybrids resistant to broomrape, adap...

In rapeseed, there is a constant need for increasing its genetic diversity, particularly through breeding of hybrid varieties in order to produce genotypes with improved seed yield, as well as other important agronomic traits. However, to create commercial hybrids, the knowledge of the genetic diversity of the parents is prerequisite, considering t...

Sunflower has been proposed as a potential crop model for an adaptation to a changing environment and special attention should be paid to testing hybrids under different environments. Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction model (AMMI) supplemented with genotype main effects and genotype by environment interaction effects (GGE) were u...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The study assessed the genetic variability among Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid. isolates originating from six different countries (Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, Ukraine and Serbia), collected mostly from sunflower, but also maize, soybean, flax, common bean and zebra plant. RAPD analysis was based on 154 polymorphic bands obtained with 1...

Isoflavones are a group of phytoestrogens, naturally-occurring substances important for their role in human health. Legumes, particularly soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), are the richest source of isoflavones in human diet. Since there is not much current data on genetics of isoflavones in soybean, particularly in the aglycone form, elucidation o...

Oil crops breeding and selection is a continual process designed to increase yield levels and improve resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Breeders have been successful in producing a large number of varieties using conventional breeding methods which vary depending on the species. Appearance of new techniques such as genomic selection and ge...

The objectives of this study were to investigate: (1) the effects of genotype, environment, and their interactions on the oil content (OC), protein content (PC) and grain yield (GY) of 25 varieties of winter wheat, (2) the correlations among these traits in different environments, and (3) the effects of different climatic variables and their intera...

Bearing in mind that the sunflower production in Serbia is extensive, it is very important to select a hybrid that will achieve stable and high seed and oil yields in different enviromental conditions. The objective of the study was to identify the most stable sunflower hybrids for seed and oil yield using AMMI model analysis. Nine newly developed...

Hybrid breeding in sunflowers based on CMS PET1 requires development of restorer lines carrying, in most cases, the restorer gene Rf1. Markers for marker-assisted selection have been developed, but there is still need for closer, more versatile, and co-dominant markers linked to Rf1. Homology searches against the reference sunflower genome using se...

Broomrape (Orobanche cumana) is a parasitic weed that causes substantial yield losses in sunflower. In this study, four biparental genetic populations comprised of between 96 and 150 F3 families were phenotyped for resistance to broomrape race G. Bulk segregant analyses (BSA) combined with genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology was used to verif...

Due to its ability to grow in different agroecological conditions and its moderate drought tolerance, sunflower may become the oil crop of preference in the future, especially in the light of global environmental changes. In the field conditions, sunflower crop is often simultaneously challenged by different biotic and abiotic stresses, and underst...

Growing confectionery sunflower for consumption is becoming more and more attractive in the whole world. In Eastern European countries production, processing, and breeding of confectionery sunflower differ from oil-type sunflower. There is no precise information on the sowing areas of confectionery varieties and hybrids in Eastern European countrie...

The most frequent oil crops in Serbia today are sunflower and soybean, planted on over 200,000 ha each, followed by rapeseed, which increases significantly in surfaces. Black and white mustard, hemp, oil pumpkin, castor bean, flax, poppy, sesame and safflower are grown on smaller surfaces. In Serbia, a total of 355 varieties of oil plant species we...

Domestication and the first steps of sunflower breeding date back more than 4000 years. As an interesting crop to humans, sunflower underwent significant changes in the past to finally find its place as one of the most significant oil crops today. Substantial progress has already been made in understanding how sunflower was domesticated. Recent adv...

Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was performed on twelve rapeseed genotypes from Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia, genepool in order to identify markers that could be used in marker assisted selection (MAS) for different growing type and selection of the varieties with low or zero level of erucic acid....

Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was performed on twelve rapeseed genotypes from Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia, genepool in order to identify markers that could be used in marker assisted selection (MAS) for different growing type and selection of the varieties with low or zero level of erucic acid....

Sunflower breeding, in the past decades, had lead to significant improvements in sunflower yield, pest resistance, and altered oil composition; however breeding is oriented towards analysis and improvement of above-ground parts, while root development has been significantly neglected. Future breeding efforts that would be aimed at modifying root tr...

Soybean time of flowering and maturity are genetically controlled by E genes. Different allelic combinations of these genes determine soybean adaptation to a specific latitude. The paper describes the first attempt to assess adaptation of soybean genotypes developed and realized at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia [Novi Sad...

Diagnostic haplotypes of NA ancestral lines, Chinese germplasm, European varieties and NS varieties, based on selected SNP markers for E1 gene.

Diagnostic haplotypes of NA ancestral lines, Chinese germplasm, European varieties and NS varieties, based on selected SNP markers for E2 gene.

Diagnostic haplotypes of NA ancestral lines, Chinese germplasm, European varieties and NS varieties, based on selected SNP markers for E3 gene.

Diagnostic haplotypes of NA ancestral lines, Chinese germplasm, European varieties and NS varieties, based on selected SNP markers for E4 gene.

SNP calls located in the genomic regions of E1, E2, E3, and E4 genes in soybean collections of North-American (NA) ancestral lines, Chinese germplasm, European varieties, and genotypes developed and released at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops – NS (Novi Sad) varieties, NS breeding lines, high-protein and high-oil genotypes from NS collection...

Allelic variation on the E1, E2, E3, and E4 maturity genes in soybean collections of North-American (NA) ancestral lines, Chinese germplasm, European varieties, and genotypes developed and released at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops – NS (Novi Sad) varieties, NS breeding lines, high-protein and high-oil genotypes from NS collection.

The effect of temperature shock on androgenic ability was studied in a large number of different plant species. The optimal temperature and duration of pre-treatment, which will stimulate the androgenesis, is different for each plant species. Androgenic response in sunflower is generally low due to genotype and explant specificity and very low leve...

Remediation methods allow the removal of metals from contaminated soil, and phytoremediation a technology for cleaning contaminated soil and waste material by plants, is becoming increasingly used. Brassica napus L., as one of the main oilcrops and high-biomass producing species, is becoming more and more interesting for the use in phytoextraction...

Genetic resistance to broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) in sunflower is the most effective way to control the parasite. The objective of this study was to determine the inheritance and gene action for broomrape resistance in sunflower inbred line LIV-17. This line was first tested and found to be resistant to broomrape, in heavily infested locati...

Sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana) is a parasitic plant that can have significant negative impact on yield. Change in virulence of parasite is a potential threat for sunflower production, as resistant hybrids growing is an extensively used control measure. Increase in broomrape virulence has been reported frequently in a number of countries wit...

Broomrape (Orobanche cumana) is an obligate holoparasite and has become one of the most important biotic factors limiting sunflower production in Southern Europe, the Black Sea region, Ukraine and China. For more than 60 years broomrape is present in Serbia and the most affected region is Vojvodina province. The aim of this study was evaluation of...

Oilcrops breeding and selection is a continual process designed to increase yield levels and improve resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Breeders have been successful in producing a large number of varieties using conventional breeding methods which vary depending on the species. Development of biotechnology, notably genetic transformations,...

Following the trends of food and non-food industries, breeders succeeded in significantly changing the seed composition of oil crops, especially the composition of fatty acids and tocopherols, as well as protein content. Oil crops breeding at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, Serbia (IFVCNS) has a successful 50-year long tradi...

According to vegetable oil consumption, rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is the third-leading source of edible oil after palm and soybean. Its oil is used as food, feed and for biodiesel production. Great market demands led to significant increase in cultivation areas, yield and quality of rapeseed worldwide. Mendelian rules represent basics of all cul...

Increasing yield of seed and oil in sunflower is certainly one of the most important imperatives in modern sunflower breeding. The aim of this experiment was to cross the sunflower genotypes in order to create a new genetic variation that will contribute in order to increase seed and oil yield. The material for this research included 6 sunflower ge...

The most frequent oil crops in Serbia today are sunflower and soybean, planted on over 200,000 ha each, followed by rapeseed, which increases significantly in surfaces. Black and white mustard, hemp, oil pumpkin, castor bean, flax, poppy, sesame and safflower are grown on smaller surfaces. In Serbia, a total of 355 varieties of oil plant species we...

Abstract: Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses influencing performance of crop plants. Certain stress-related conditions can appear which can cause the slowing down of germination, seedling development and in some cases a loss of life durability of a seed can occur. Assuming that drought in the substrate affect corn seed per...

In this study, changes in the pH of the nutrient medium were investigated after 35 days of cultivation of four white poplar genotypes (Populus alba L.). Four initial pH values of the substrate were tested: 3.0, 4.0, 5.5 and 7.0 buffered sodium citrate buffer, as well as a standard medium for micropropagation with pH 5.5 without the addition of citr...

The study tested the effect of salinity on growth and development of the shoots of five white poplar (Populus alba L.) genotypes in culture in vitro. After 35 days of cultivation following characters were measured: height of shoot, number of roots, length of the longest root, percentage of survival and rooting. The effect of six different concentra...

Lanik (Camelina sativa L.) is a relict agricultural oilseed crops from Brassicaceae family. It has several agronomic advantages relative to the other crops, including short vegetation (85- 100 days), low requirements for water and nutrients, great adaptability to different environmental conditions and resistance to insect attack and disease-causing...

High-oleic sunflower oil is in high demand on the market due to its heart-healthy properties and richness in monounsaturated fatty acids that makes it more stable in processing than standard sunflower oil. Consequently, one of sunflower breeder’s tasks is to develop stable high-oleic sunflower genotypes that will produce high quality oil. We analyz...

Ornamental sunflowers are widely cultivated for use as cut flowers and/or as garden plants. The objective of the study was to investigate breeding values of new F 1 ornamental sunflower hybrids using incomplete diallel crossing of four ornamental inbred lines: Heliopa, Talia, Iskra and Neoplanta. Six traits important for ornamental market use were...

Legumes and brassicas have much in common: importance in agricultural history, rich biodiversity, numerous forms of use, high adaptability to diverse farming designs, and various non-food applications. Rare available resources demonstrate intercropping legumes and brassicas as beneficial to both, especially for the latter, profiting from better nit...

Phytoextraction is an efficient and cheap way to extract copper from soils in riparian zones. In this work five genotypes of the endangered tree species Populus nigra L. were tested for their copper tolerance and accumulation in vitro when cultivated on media with three Cu concentrations: 10-3, 10-4 and 10-7 M (buffered with citric acid/Na-citrate...

The most important criterion for introducing new confectionary sunflower hybrids into production is high protein yield. In the breeding process it is important to identify traits which could be used as selection criteria for increased kernel protein content. Increase of kernel protein content results in increased protein yield. This research was co...

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) belongs to the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. It is primarily grown for seeds used for bird feed or as edible oil. Stamens are used in traditional medicine and nutrition. Breeding for high resistance to dry growing conditions has initiated intensive studies of this plant species in recent years. Six safflower ge...

The aim of this research is to characterize wild annual sunflowers on the basis of achene micro-morphology. Plant material was grown up on an experimental field of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad during 2015. Achene samples were hand-collected at the time of physiological maturity. Morphological measurements of achenes were p...