Genetic control of morphological traits useful for improving sorghum

Abstract

Global climate change and global warming, coupled with the growing population, have raised concerns about sustainable food supply and bioenergy demand. Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] ranks fifth among cereals produced worldwide; it is a C 4 crop with a higher stress tolerance than other major cereals and has a wide range of uses, such as grains, forage, and biomass. Therefore, sorghum has attracted attention as a promising crop for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). In addition, sorghum is a suitable genetic model for C 4 grasses because of its high morphological diversity and relatively small genome size compared to other C 4 grasses. Although sorghum breeding and genetic studies have lagged compared to other crops such as rice and maize, recent advances in research have identified several genes and many quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control important agronomic traits in sorghum. This review outlines traits and genetic information with a focus on morphogenetic aspects that may be useful in sorghum breeding for grain and biomass utilization.

The Function of Florigen in the Vegetative-to-Reproductive Phase Transition in and around the Shoot Apical Meristem

“…An excellent example is a comparative study of maize and sorghum inflorescence development where transcriptional profiles were collected throughout inflorescence maturation on samples from both plant species ( Leiboff and Hake 2019 ). The inflorescence structure of these two species shares a partial similarity, but exhibit significant differences ( Takanashi 2023 ). The gene expression in maize and sorghum inflorescences was reconstructed as trajectories ( Leiboff and Hake 2019 ).…”

Productive and Qualitative Traits of Sorghum Genotypes Used for Silage under Tropical Conditions

“…These authors explained that agronomic traits such as plant height, stem diameter, and the number of plants per hectare are variables that can directly affect biomass production. The number of plants is linked to the tiller population as a function of the area, and the stem diameter and plant height are related to volume and/or tiller weight values [27]. Associations among these agronomic traits have important effects such as on the density of stands and on the tiller size, influencing the biomass production per area.…”

Millets and pseudocereals: A treasure for climate resilient agriculture ensuring food and nutrition security

“…Rapid developments in gene identification, mapping, sequencing, and phenotyping technologies have facilitated the identification of important genetic loci and genes controlling agronomic and adaptive traits in sorghum. These advancements, primarily through Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), QTL mapping, and mutant analysis, are documented in earlier reports (Zhang et al 2018;Hao et al 2021;Takanashi 2023).…”