Screening a diverse collection ofArtemisia annuagermplasm accessions for the antimalarial compound, artemisinin

The antimalarial drug artemisinin (ART) is commercially extracted from the medicinal plantArtemisia annuaL. Here, we report the screening of 70A. annuaplants representing 14 diverse germplasm accessions sourced from around the world, and identify lines containing >2% ART. These extremely high-yielding individuals have been maintained as vegetative clones, and they represent promising germplasm resources for futureA. annuabreeding programmes.