13th Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (CMAPSEEC 2026)

Background: Flowering time and essential oil content are pivotal traits for caraway breeding, driving both adaptation to climate change and pharmaceutical quality. Understanding the genetic regulation of these traits could aid in efficient breeding. However, genetic studies have been rare in this orphan crop.
Materials and Methods: Therefore, as a foundational resource, we established an annotated draft genome assembly using long-read sequencing data. Moreover, we conducted QTL mapping using three F2 mapping populations derived from crosses between biennial and annual caraway (comprising approximately 750 plants in total) to identify QTLs associated with flowering time and essential oil content.
Results: We detected several minor to major QTLs per trait and population, supporting an oligogenic to polygenic regulation of flowering time and essential oil content. In addition, we observed a strong dependency of flowering time on the date of sowing. We also found fundamental differences in flowering time control between wild and cultivated biennial caraway. While the annotated draft genome enabled the identification of initial candidate genes, fine mapping and functional validation remain necessary.
Conclusions: Our studies provide a valuable genetic resource to elucidate the genetic control of flowering time and essential oil content; however, additional steps are required to ultimately establish marker-assisted selection for these traits. The revealed genetic diversity offers various opportunities for fine-tuned genetic improvements in caraway breeding.