Source: KANSAS STATE UNIV submitted to NRP
PLANT BREEDING-CIN: A SORGHUM INNOVATION NETWORK TO ACCELERATE TRAIT DELIVERY IN A MAJOR CLIMATE-SAFE CROP
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030161
Grant No.
2023-67013-39444
Cumulative Award Amt.
$998,830.00
Proposal No.
2022-10283
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 1, 2023
Project End Date
Dec 31, 2027
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A1141]- Plant Health and Production and Plant Products: Plant Breeding for Agricultural Production
Recipient Organization
KANSAS STATE UNIV
(N/A)
MANHATTAN,KS 66506
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Sorghum Traits Collaborative Innovation Network (STRAIT CIN) is a public-private collaborative network to address the bottleneck in innovative commercial sorghum trait offerings. The proposal aims to contribute to the grand challenge of climate-safe agriculture with the commercialization of sorghum traits. The long-term goal of this project is to establish a sustained public-private network and to equip the network with protocols and genomic resources that provide a recurring pipeline of commercial innovations. Underpinning this long-term goal are three supporting objectives, Connect, Catalyze, and Characterize.Connect. Connect a community that spans the public-private research paradigm with active contribution, trust and engagement.Catalyze. Catalyze the public and private sorghum research capacities to synergistically accelerate trait delivery.Characterize. Characterize genomic resources and develop methods that optimize the collaboration between public discovery and private deployment of innovation.
Animal Health Component
35%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
40%
Applied
35%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2011520108075%
2011520108125%
Knowledge Area
201 - Plant Genome, Genetics, and Genetic Mechanisms;

Subject Of Investigation
1520 - Grain sorghum;

Field Of Science
1081 - Breeding; 1080 - Genetics;
Goals / Objectives
Objective 1, Connect. Connect a community that spans the public-private research paradigm with active contribution, trust and engagement.Sub objective 1.1. Enable public innovation with leverage of private research operations.Facilitate a single service agreement arrangement with Corteva Agriscience for provision of turnkey winter nursery services.Develop markers with public research programs.Confirm effects of novel traits in independent public genetic backgrounds.Coordinate testing new markers in multiple private seed companies' private germplasm.Sub objective 1.2. Build public-private capacity with workforce development andcommunity building.Bi-monthly STRAIT CIN molecular breeding seminar series to train and provide early career scientists (public and private) to a forum to share and discuss their research.An in-person tour of the seed industry with public program attendees.STRAIT CIN will host a feature CSI seminar in each project year. Sub objective 1.3. Establish a network advisory to inform and guide community researchpriorities.A launch webinar hosted by the CSI Seminar Series with direct invites from PIs to all partners engaged in the development of this STRAIT CIN proposal.Establish agreement documents for operation of the STRAIT CIN.Annual report and webinar to provide awareness of engagement and contribution opportunities of the network.Quarterly written report to the STRAIT CIN Advisory.Annual STRAIT CIN Advisory meeting to assess and adaptively manage the network, and guide priorities in the next annual period. Objective 2, Catalyze. Catalyze the public and private sorghum research capacities to synergistically accelerate trait delivery.Sub objective 2.1. Test public markers and identified traits in private seed companies' programs.Establish testing protocols of new markers in breeding programs external to research programs.Identify germplasm which potentially contain the trait of interest within breeding programs' populations via genomic and pedigree data.Utilize third party genotyping service providers to test private germplasm from seed companies.Sub objective 2.2. Transfer trait technologies via markers and donors to commercial seed companies.Communicate the different functions of each marker, and if a commercial company has internal genotyping capabilities, work to help them transfer functioning markers on their platform.If trait does not exist in breeding populations, transfer US elite lines with prebreeding introgression of the trait.Aid in establishing integration of new markers in the breeding pipeline based on the needs of individual programs.Sub objective 2.3. Transform public innovation outcomes to next-user ready technologies with enabling public-private mentorship.Train research programs to utilize genomic datasets and population genetics to develop markers which are functional across multiple breeding programs.Scientific guidance with collaborative introgress trait loci via prebreeding into US elite lines compatible with multiple breeding programs.Guide hypothesis testing to confirm effects of novel traits through field trials of the US elite lines post loci introgression.Objective 3, Characterize. Characterize genomic resources and develop methods that optimize the collaboration between public discovery and private deployment of innovation.Sub objective 3.1. Characterize major genes underlying compatibility between public and private sector sorghum germplasm.Genotype germplasm from private programs with molecular markers for major effect sorghum genes.Communicate with private programs to confirm genotype in relation to phenotype.Identify alternative genes of interest which are of interest and of possible effect to public-private technology transfer.Sub objective 3.2. Identify population and haplotype relationships between public and private sector sorghum germplasm.Genotype both public and private germplasm with medium density genotyping.Develop haplotype maps and population structure analysis across the public and private germplasm.Sub objective 3.3. Optimize design of genetic mapping resources to facilitate trait transfer from the public to the private sector.Create a "blueprint" of major effect traits and their alleles across the different private programs.Utilize haplotype and population structure data to identify public lines which have greatest complementary with technology transfer to private programs.Communicate with private sector programs about other ancillary traits that are important for incorporation of eternal germplasm.
Project Methods
Methods for Objective 1 - Connect.Successful establishment and sustainability of a STRAIT CIN will occur with integration of systematic use of best practices for organizational management, and use of agreements that govern exchanges of the community. Co-PI Sexton-Bowser will work with K-State Award services to establish a partner agreement that has the platisticity to govern all functions of the network and provides for stewardship. Sexton-Bowser has a set of tailored agreements that have been utilized to conduct collaborative genotyping and pre-licensing/commercialization testing of proprietary germplasm.The PIs will leverage their established relationships in the launch of STRAIT CIN. The CSI has a unique list of 350+ sorghum research contacts that are multi-sector, and three unique listservs. The divergent specializations of this proposal team broadens the network of connectivity.The STRAIT CIN network and network advisory will have consistent engagements throughout the project period. All public sorghum research programs with research focal in sorghum breeding and genetics, and the multidisciplinary trait discovery scientists will be invited to join the network. As demonstrated by the supporting letters from 12 public programs, there is ripe interest in synergistic cooperation from public programs.Membership of the advisory will consist of contributing private sector programs, public sector representatives and the Sorghum Checkoff. The public sector representatives will entail an early career scientist, a senior career scientist, and a United Sorghum Checkoff agronomist. Private sector programs that participate in collaborative genotyping and testing of breeder-friendly markers will be given a seat on the advisory.Methods for Objective 2 - Catalyze.To test public markers in private seed companies' breeding programs, a once-annual round of testing will be performed. This will be conducted by the STRAIT CIN research scientist engaging the private programs individually. A test plate will be established which will best be able to determine if the desired markers both function in the program and are predictive of the trait. This is done by testing primary parental germplasm in the breeding program, as well as segregating breeding material. If the program has any breeding material they feel already contains the trait of interest, then those lines will be tested in contrast with lines known to not contain the trait of interest. After plate design, the different companies will collect the tissue, and will ship off to Intertek, a third party genotyping service provider, with the STRAIT CIN research scientist coordinating the samples coming from many different programs. After the genotyping results are returned, a call will be held with each program individually to discuss and interpret the results. A decision can be made based on the efficacy of the marker and the desire of the private company to move forward with technology transfer for any given trait.If the private company has internal genotyping capabilities, then the technology transfer would start with a call between the STRAIT CIN research scientist and a representative of the service provider including internal lab service providers. The call will establish what is required of the genotyping service provider to develop a functioning marker on their platform. Once established, the research scientist would package all the files required for that information and deliver it to the service provider. Follow-up meetings will be carried out to assess whether the markers are functioning, and if more support is needed to aid in marker development. If a donor source of the trait is needed, then that will be addressed with the breeding group, and a transfer agreement will be arranged. Post transfer agreement, seeds will be delivered to the program for the material best suited for the breeding program and which have had the trait of interest introgressed via prebreeding.Lastly, this project will support mentorship on development of next-user ready technologies, primarily in the form of breeder-friendly markers. The platform for breeder-friendly markers needs to be cost effective, have fast turnaround, be easily interpretable, be high-throughput, and be easy and quick to collect the tissue for. The service provider, Intertek, provides KASP genotyping at a reasonable price ($2-$2.50 for 10 markers on a single sample), with a two week turnaround. Intertek has been consistent in their assistance of different crop improvement programs around the world, through their participation in the Excellence in Breeding platform. Designing markers for the KASP platform can be done in the labs or provided as a service by Intertek.Another key feature of a breeder-friendly marker is that the polymorphism (will be denoted as SNP) the marker is based on is in both linkage and linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the causal gene; linkage is driven by physical proximity of the SNP to the causal gene, and LD is driven by association of the SNP with the causal gene allele. For both of these cases, utilization of large genomic datasets is extremely useful. High-density genotyping can be utilized to provide enough SNP options to identify a potential SNP within close enough physical proximity of the loci of interest to have a successful marker. Genotyping datasets of sorghum germplasm can be used in conjunction with population genetics to confirm LD of the SNP and causal gene allele across different breeding populations.Methods for Objective 3 - Characterize.In order to characterize the germplasm used within and between the public and private sectors, germplasm will be genotyped for major effect loci via third party genotyping service provider, Intertek. The germplasm to be used will be lines which are representative founders and important breeding lines within each private breeding program, as well as public founder lines, important public breeding lines, and diverse public germplasm. The markers are KASP markers at Intertek which are designed as perfect markers identifying the causal allele variants of major effect genes. After the results are finished, the STRAIT CIN research scientist and graduate student will communicate with each group to go over results, discussing any unexpected results, and identifying if there are any other major effect genes that are of interest to the breeding program.A more in-depth genotyping analysis will also be performed by using the same criteria for the single marker analysis, but implementing a medium density DArTag genotyping array for sorghum which is available by Intertek. The DArTag array was chosen as this array can be used across different runs and seasons and provide a continuity of the same SNPs from the different genotyping runs. The genotyping dataset will be sterilized to remove private information from the commercial seed companies, and will be used to quantify haplotype blocks and population structure. These analyses can help to determine, in broad strokes, the relatedness of public germplasm to private germplasm.These two types of genotyping and analysis, the major effect genes and the relatedness assay, will help to determine appropriate US elite lines to be used by the public sector for prebreeding and trait introgression. The major effect gene information can provide a "blueprint" of genetic incompatibility for important traits, and the mid-density genotyping and population analysis can help to identify US elite lines most closely resembling the private breeding program. The STRAIT CIN research scientist and graduate student will also carry out a survey of the private seed companies for traits that are preferential to the program and could have an impact on the breeding pipeline within the program

Progress 01/01/24 to 12/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience: Private-sector partners: Connected with private-sector breeders during the in-person sorghum seed tour (Innovative Seed Solutions, Richardson Seeds, Remington Seeds, Corteva, Warner, and S&W), Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America (SICNA) conference (140 attendees), Center for Sorghum Improvement (CSI) seminar series (55-70 attendees/month), and monthly sorghum molecular breeding meetings (20-30 attendees/month). Public-sector sorghum scientists: Based on the interest from the private sector, the STRAIT KIN team established connections with weed scientists, plant pathologists, entomologists, and public-sector breeders to deliver sorghum trait packages for the industry. The 2024 Seed Tour engaged researchers from Clemson University, Colorado State University, Texas Tech University, and USDA ARS. Early-career scientists: Monthly sorghum molecular breeding meetings emphasize that early-career researchers (graduate students and postdoctoral scholars) orient their research goals to accelerate trait discovery and trait dissemination to the sorghum industry. Farmer stakeholders: Regular reports and interactions with sorghum farmer leadership boards, including the United Sorghum Checkoff Board and the Board of Kansas Sorghum. ? Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? PhD student on this grant involved in genomic characterization gained experience in analyzing genomic data, population genomics, and leveraging genomic data for marker development Development of trait packages by the STRAIT KIN team provided opportunities to learn trait mapping, marker development, and marker-assisted backcrossing to generate donor lines. The in-person seed tour provided an opportunity to understand the private-sector breeding targets, knowledge of the breeding and hybrid testing pipelines, and establish connections with the sorghum industry Coordinating between public- and private-sector programs provided the STRAIT KIN team members with training in leadership, interpersonal skills, and resource management How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In-person seed tour to connect with the public- and private-sector partners about STRAIT packages (genetic maps, markers, and donor lines), progress on genomic characterization of representative parental lines, and germplasm exchange for trait discovery and delivery The SorghumBase platform was used to inform the sorghum community of sorghum resources available for the community, e.g., the new reference genome BTx623 v5.1 and the sorghum pangenome Generated a 3-minute video on the state of sorghum chinch bug research to inform sorghum growers at the Sorghum Connection Flash and Dash segment of the winter series portion of the program Dr. Sarah Sexton-Bowser is leveraging established networks between sorghum public- and private-sector partners to continue the STRAIT KIN program outreach Developed a one-pager of the STRAIT KIN project to share with public and private seed industry researchers Poster presentation about the STRAIT KIN project at the Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America (SICNA) conference in Oklahoma City from April 2-4 Research presentations by sorghum researchers in monthly molecular breeding and CSI seminar series on sorghum traits Online meetings with the public- and private-sector breeders to share knowledge and research updates What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In-person seed tour in September 2025 to continue networking between the public and seed industry partners Generate haplotype maps and determine the major genes fixed in the US sorghum breeding programs Develop a database of sorghum markers available at Intertek, a third-party genotyping service provider Test publicly available trait markers with public and seed industry partners germplasm in the Summer of 2025 Genomic analyses of representative parental lines from public and private breeding programs to identify germplasm with the trait of interest within breeding programs' populations via genomic and pedigree data Develop new trait markers (chinch bug resistance, anthracnose resistance, herbicide tolerance, and iron deficiency chlorosis) and test the marker's functionality in different public and private seed partners

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1.1 Established material transfer agreements (MTA) in 2023/2024 with three private seed sector partners to enable the sharing of 40 elite parental lines from each private sector partner for genomic characterization using DArT sequencing. We are signing an MTA with one private seed sector partner to access their existing DArT sequencing data. Additionally, DArT sequencing of 48 sorghum ex-PVP lines and representative lines from four public breeding programs is in progress. Connecting private-sector STRAIT KIN partners with public-sector sorghum scientists at the 2024 Sorghum Improvement Conference of North Americameeting helped exchange knowledge of breeding product profiles important for the US sorghum growers. This networking highlighted the importance of trait mapping and marker-assisted breeding in public breeding programs. The US grain sorghum industry has been using the dw3-ref allele, a major dwarfing allele that produces undesirable revertants, for the past 60 years. Reverants generated by the dw3-ref allele increase hybrid seed production cost as the revertants must be culled before flowering. We developed a stable-dwarfing allele trait package for the sorghum community. Novel mechanisms of herbicide tolerance is a trait of interest for the sorghum seed industry. The STRAIT KIN team established a connection between a private seed industry partner and a weed scientist at Kansas State University, which resulted in obtaining a grant of $180,000 for 2 years from the Kansas State University Global Food Systems Institute. Brown midrib is a key trait in the breeding product profile for private-sector forage breeding programs. Two brown midrib markers tagging the bmr6-ref and bmr12-ref alleles, developed by Dr. Gloria Burow at USDA ARS Lubbock, were transferred to Intertek, and these markers were validated to determine their functioning at Intertek, a third-party genotyping service provider. These markers are now available for public and private forage breeding programs. Sorghum early-season chilling tolerance trait can potentially advance sorghum planting in temperate regions. We introgressed early-season chilling tolerance from chilling-adapted Chinese sorghums into US elite sorghum lines. We are coordinating with a private-sector partner to evaluate the early-season chilling tolerant lines.? Objective 1.2 Dr. Sarah Sexton-Bowser, a co-PI on the grant, organized an in-person sorghum seed industry tour in September 2024. Four participants, Dr. Alex Kena (Colorado State University), Dr. Carolina Ballen Taborda (Clemson University), Nneka Okreke (PhD student, Colorado State University), and Dr. Sarah Sexton-Bowser visited six private seed companies and two public sorghum breeding programs. Two Masters students were hired at Kansas State University to identify new modes of sorghum herbicide tolerance. Students will be trained in weed science, molecular breeding, and genetics. We are continuing our STRAIT KIN molecular breeding monthly seminars in 2024. Breeders and geneticists (20-30 sorghum researchers) from the public and private sectors attended this seminar series. STRAIT KIN team was invited to a private-sector partner's annual research meeting to share the status of publicly available sorghum traits packages. The STRAIT KIN team organizes frequent meetings with private-sector partners to identify traits important for the sorghum industry, track progress on trait discovery and marker development, and exchange germplasm for field trials and hybrid evaluations. Genomic characterization of 40 representative lines from each private-sector partner is fostering interactions between the STRAIT KIN team and the private-sector breeders to understand their germplasm, generate haplotype maps, and identify major genes fixed in their programs based on the genomic data. Generated a 3-minute video on the state of sorghum chinch bug research to inform growers at the Sorghum Connection Flash and Dash segment of the winter series portion of the program.? Objective 1.3 Co-PI Sexton-Bowser provides monthly updates to advisory board members Drs. Dooren Ware and Brent Bean. The third board member, Dr. Fonseca, has recently taken a different role in crop improvement and no longer works in the sorghum sector. The STRAIT KIN team conducts monthly meetings to track progress on trait discovery, marker development, genomic characterization, and trait delivery. The project provides regular reports to stakeholders, including the Kansas Grain Sorghum Board (July 2024) and the United Sorghum Checkoff Board (December 2024), and monthly calls with the USDA-administrated SorghumBase team. Objective 2.1. Haplotype maps generated with the genomic data of 40 representative parental lines from 9 breeding programs (5 private- and 4 public-sector partners). We are developing a sorghum marker database of publicly available markers at Intertek, a third-party genotyping service provider, with marker information, alleles in US elite lines, and allele frequency in the US germplasm. KASP markers available at Intertek will be tested by three public breeding programs and four private seed companies in the Summer of 2025. The protocol for generating test plates for each program is shared between private and public sector breeding programs. Objective 2.2. Transferred a new sorghum aphid resistance marker with improved marker-trait association to private-industry partners. As one private-sector partner has internal genotyping capabilities, we provided marker information (physical location, favorable vs. alternate alleles, and allele frequency in the US sorghums) to generate markers functioning with their genotyping platform. Stable-dwarfing donor lines, developed by introducing the stable-dwarfing allele from an exotic sorghum line into US elite lines using marker-assisted backcrossing, will be shared with private-sector partners to develop stable-dwarfing sorghum hybrids. Sorghum early-season chilling tolerance donor lines, generated by introgressing chilling tolerance loci from Chinese sorghums into US accessions using marker-assisted breeding, will be tested by a private-sector partner in their 2025 early-season planting trials. Genetic mapping of sorghum chinch bug resistance revealed a major locus controlling the resistance, and a preliminary KASP marker was created. Private- and public-sector partners are using sorghum aphid resistance (2 markers), grain tannins (5), plant height (4), flowering time (2), staygreen (3), waxy endosperm (2), and Striga tolerance (3) to identify the alleles fixed in their breeding programs and validate the marker functionality in different breeding programs. Objective 2.3. Genomic resources generated by the STRAIT KIN team, DArT sequencing data of representative lines of a breeding program and sorghum pangenome, are creating training opportunities between the STRAIT KIN team and public/private sector partners on utilization of genomic data for germplasm characterization, identify germplasm resources for desired alleles in their program, marker development, and accelerating trait delivery. Training public and private sector breeders on utilizing publicly available genomic resources (sorghum pangenome data) for pre-breeding and trait discovery can transform the innovation of sorghum trait packages. Objective 3.1. KASP genotyping of major genes fixed in US grain sorghums and generation of haplotype maps from DArT sequencing data of parental lines are in progress. Objective 3.2. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree with DArT sequencing data from the public- and private-sector breeding lines has enabeledus to identify population structure and haplotype relationships between public and private sector sorghums. Development of haplotype maps using the DArT sequencing data. Objective 3.3. No progress is made on this objective.

Publications


    Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Have established relationships with commercial sorghum breeding companies, with sorghum seed production companies, with public sorghum breeding programs, and public sorghum researchers. Graduate students have also been on seed tour for learning experiences. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Sorghum seed tour provided an opportunity to understand the private seed sector and identify networks to improve collaborations. Interactions with sorghum public breeding programs provided knowledge of traits of interest for different sorghum-growing regions of the US. E.g., disease resistance for the southern US and early-season chilling tolerance for the mid-west sorghum breeding programs. PhD student in this research was provided with opportunities to learn genomic analyses and marker development for trait improvement. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Disseminated about the STRAIT KIN project using the SorghumBase, a web-based portal for sorghum genetic information and community advancement https://www.sorghumbase.org/post/strait-kin-a-collaborative-innovation-network-for-sorghum-traits-has-been-awarded-a-1-million-grant-by-the-usda We are working with SorghumBase to publish newsletters to promote new trait markers available for the public and private seed sectors. E.g., publish waxy markers developed by Dr. Yinping Jiao's lab and currently available at Intertek. Sarah Sexton-Bowser, Director Center for Sorghum Improvement at Kansas State University, is leveraging established networks between sorghum public and private industry partners to increase the STRAIT KIN program outreach. Webinar by Dr. Terry Felderhoff on the STRAIT KIN program in the CSI Seminar Series. Developed a one-pager of the STRAIT KIN project to share with public and private seed industry researchers. Poster on STRAIT KIN project at the Sorghum Improvement Conference of North America (SICNA) conference in Oklahoma City from April 2-4. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Test publicly available trait markers with public and seed industry partners germplasm. Genomic analyses of representative parental lines from public and private breeding programs to identify germplasm with the trait of interest within breeding programs' populations via genomic and pedigree data. Second seed tour in September 2024 to establish networks between the public and seed industry partners. Develop new trait markers and test the marker's functionality in different public and private seed partners.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1, Connect: Connect a community that spans the public-private research paradigm with active contribution, trust and engagement. Sub-objective 1.1 Enable public innovation with leverage of private research operations. Developed new sorghum aphid resistance markers using QTL mapped by Dr. Geoffrey Morris (Colorado State University) and Dr. Gael Pressoir (Haiti sorghum breeding program). We evaluated these new markers on sorghum lines from two private sorghum breeding companies (S&W and ISS germplasm). Markers for waxy grain (low amylose content) developed by Dr. Yinping Jiao's laboratory at Texas Tech University were tested on the USDA Lubbock waxy germplasm to test their predictability in diverse germplasm at Intertek, a third-party genotyping laboratory. After validating the markers in an independent program, we added the markers to the STRAIT KIN program markers for use by the public and private seed sectors. Evaluated new and previous sorghum aphid resistance markers with parental lines from a Kansas-based private seed company (Ohlde Seeds). Sub-objective 1.2 Build public-private capacity with workforce development and community building. Sorghum seed tour in September 2023. Four participants, Dr. Terry Felderhoff (Kansas State University Sorghum Molecular Breeder), Dr. Sandeep Marla (Project Manager STRAIT KIN, Kansas State University), Sarah Sexton-Bowser (Director, Center for Sorghum Improvement), and Gina Cerimele (PhD student, Colorado State University), visited six private seed companies and three public sorghum breeding programs. During this seed tour, we established connections with public and private seed industry partners for efficient trait transfer from public sorghum breeding programs to private seed industry and commercial growers. Additionally, we proposed public marker testing by private seed industries and genomic characterization of private seed sector parental lines to improve marker/trait predictability by public research programs. Dr. Terry Felderhoff, PI on the STRAIT KIN (CIN) project, was the feature Center for Sorghum Improvement (CSI) seminar speaker for 2024. This seminar was attended by ~90 sorghum public and private sector researchers. Sorghum molecular breeding seminars are conducted each month. Breeders and geneticists (~30-40 sorghum researchers) from public and private sorghum seed industry partners join this seminar series. Sub-objective 1.3 Establish a network advisory to inform and guide community research priorities. STRAIT KIN launch webinar was presented by Dr. Terry Felderhoff in the CSI Seminar Series. STRAIT KIN team received emails from different public research programs to join and contribute to marker development and transfer improved traits to the private sector. Established STRAIT KIN 2023-2024 work plan to a) test publicly developed and validated markers in partner seed company programs, and 2) characterize genomic resources of sorghum industry partners. Established material transfer agreement (MTA) document for operations between Kansas State University and public/private sorghum partners. Objective 2, Catalyze. Catalyze the public and private sorghum research capacities to accelerate trait delivery synergistically. Sub-objective 2.1. Test public markers and identified traits in private seed companies' programs. Testing public markers with three public breeding programs and four private seed companies' parental lines will be conducted in the Summer of 2024. Established a protocol for genomic characterization and marker testing at Intertek shared with our public and private sector partners. Sub-objective 2.2. Transfer trait technologies via markers and donors to commercial seed companies. Transferred new sorghum aphid resistance markers to a private seed industry partner (ISS). We are introgressing a stable dwarfing allele into US elite germplasm, using marker-assisted backcrossing, for sharing these lines with our industry partners. Objective 3, Characterize. Characterize genomic resources and develop methods that optimize the collaboration between public discovery and private deployment of innovation. We have established work plans and MTA for conducting genomic characterization of public and private sector sorghum germplasm. We will conduct genomic characterization in the Summer of 2024.

    Publications