Independent domestication of sorghum, rice, and maize involved convergent selection for large seeds, reduced disarticulation of the mature inflorescence, and daylength-insensitive flowering. These similar phenotypes are largely determined by a small number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that correspond closely in the three taxa. The correspondence of these QTLs transcends 65 million years of reproductive isolation. This finding supports models of quantitative inheritance that invoke relatively few genes, obviates difficulties in map-based cloning of QTLs, and impels the comparative mapping of complex pheno-types across large evolutionary distances, such as those that separate humans from rodents and domesticated mammals.

Many major weeds rely upon vegetative dispersal by rhizomes and seed dispersal by "shattering" of the mature inflorescence. We report molecular analysis of these traits in a cross between cultivated and wild species of Sorghum that are the probable progenitors of the major weed "johnsongrass." By restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping, variation in the number of rhizomes producing above-ground shoots was associated with three quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Variation in regrowth (ratooning) after overwintering was associated with QTLs accounting for additional rhizomatous growth and with QTLs influencing tillering. Vegetative buds that become rhizomes are similar to those that become tillers-one QTL appears to influence the number of such vegetative buds available, and additional independent genes determine whether individual buds differentiate into tillers or rhizomes. DNA markers described herein facilitate cloning of genes associated with weediness, comparative study of rhizomatousness in other Poaceae, and assessment of gene flow between cultivated and weedy sorghums-a risk that constrains improvement of sorghum through biotechnology. Cloning of "weediness" genes may create opportunities for plant growth regulation, in suppressing propagation ofweeds and enhancing productivity ofmajor forage, turf, and "ratoon" crops.

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To increase the value of associated molecular tools and also to begin to explore the degree to which interspecific and intraspecific genetic variation in Sorghum is attributable to corresponding genetic loci, we have aligned genetic maps derived from two sorghum populations that share one common parent (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench accession BTx623) but differ in morphological and evolutionarily distant alternate parents (S. propinquum or S. bicolor accession IS3620C). A total of 106 well-distributed DNA markers provide for map alignment, revealing only six nominal differences in marker order that are readily explained by sampling variation or mapping of paralogous loci. We also report a total of 61 new QTLs detected from 17 traits in these crosses. Among eight corresponding traits (some new, some previously published) that could be directly compared between the two maps, QTLs for two (tiller height and tiller number) were found to correspond in a non-random manner (P<0.05). For several other traits, correspondence of subsets of QTLs narrowly missed statistical significance. In particular, several QTLs for leaf senescence were near loci previously mapped for 'stay-green' that have been implicated by others in drought tolerance. These data provide strong validation for the value of molecular tools developed in the interspecific cross for utilization in cultivated sorghum, and begin to separate QTLs that distinguish among Sorghum species from those that are informative within the cultigen (S. bicolor).

The first "complete" genetic linkage map of Sorghum section Sorghum is described, comprised of ten linkage groups putatively corresponding to the ten gametic chromosomes of S. bicolor and S. propinquum. The map includes 276 RFLP loci, predominately detected by PstI-digested S. bicolor genomic probes, segregating in 56 F2 progeny of a cross between S. bicolor and S. propinquum. Although prior cytological evidence suggests that the genomes of these species are largely homosequential, a high level of molecular divergence is evidenced by the abundant RFLP and RAPD polymorphisms, the marked deviations from Mendelian segregation in many regions of the genome, and several species-specific DNA probes. The remarkable level of DNA polymorphism between these species will facilitate development of a high-density genetic map. Further, the high level of DNA polymorphism permitted mapping of multiple loci for 21 (8.2%) DNA probes. Linkage relationships among eight (38%) of these probes suggest ancestral duplication of three genomic regions. Mapping of 13 maize genomic clones in this cross was consistent with prior results. Mapping of heterologous cDNAs from rice and oat suggests that it may be feasible to extend comparative mapping to these distantly-related species, and to ultimately generate a detailed description of chromosome rearrangements among cultivated Gramineae. Limited investigation of a small number of RFLPs showed several alleles common to S. bicolor and S. Halepense ("johnson-grass"), but few alleles common to S. propinquum and S. halepense, raising questions about the origin of S. halepense.

Chinese sorghums [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] are reputed to have a narrow genetic base, resulting from infrequent introduction of exotic germplasm into China. We have used several different molecular approaches to evaluate diversity and relatedness in a selection of 34 Chinese sorghums. The results indicated that different DNA marker technologies for germplasm assessment yield comparable results, but that a relatively new technique termed inter‐simple sequence repeat amplification (ISSR) was relatively rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive. Extensive diversity was observed within the Chinese sorghums, and all lines could be easily differentiated. Different lines collected from the same locality were found to exhibit particularly high levels of relatedness. Contrary to expectations, improved varieties were found to contain more diversity and to be more different from each other than were the Chinese landraces studied, suggesting recent introduction of non‐Chinese germplasm into these improved materials.

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With an aim to clone the sorghum fertility restorer gene Rf1, a high-resolution genetic and physical map of the locus was constructed. The Rf1 locus was resolved to a 32-kb region spanning four open reading frames: a plasma membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase, a cyclin D-1, an unknown protein, and a pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR13) gene family member. An approximately 19-kb region spanning the cyclin D-1 and unknown protein genes was completely conserved between sterile and fertile plants as was the sequence spanning the coding region of the Ca(2+)-ATPase. In contrast, 19 sequence polymorphisms were located in an approximately 7-kb region spanning PPR13, and all markers cosegregated with the fertility restoration phenotype. PPR13 was predicted to encode a mitochondrial-targeted protein containing a single exon with 14 PPR repeats, and the protein is classified as an E-type PPR subfamily member. To permit sequence-based comparison of the sorghum and rice genomes in the Rf1 region, 0.53 Mb of sorghum chromosome 8 was sequenced and compared to the colinear region of rice chromosome 12. Genome comparison revealed a mosaic pattern of colinearity with an approximately 275-kb gene-poor region with little gene conservation and an adjacent, approximately 245-kb gene-rice region that is more highly conserved between rice and sorghum. Despite being located in a region of high gene conservation, sorghum PPR13 was not located in a colinear position on rice chromosome 12. The present results suggest that sorghum PPR13 represents a potential candidate for the sorghum Rf1 gene, and its presence in the sorghum genome indicates a single gene transposition event subsequent to the divergence of rice and sorghum ancestors.