Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Sorghum is a major crop for food, feed and industrial processes in the US and on the global market. It is a particularly relevant crop under the current pressures of climate change and food security because it is adapted to cultivation under low water and nutrient conditions. However, compared to other major crops, sorghum productivity is relatively low, and historic increases in sorghum yield have been minimal. Recently, it has been established that root architecture plays a critical role for crop yield potential and stability, especially under limiting environments, such as drought and low nutrient availability. Our preliminary analysis of root architecture traits among sorghum varieties has revealed a potential for genetic improvement of root architecture for sorghum agronomic productivity in sustainable agriculture. Current challenge remains in identification of root architecture features and their genetic control which have been limited by the phenotyping technologies available, as well as the application of emerging and potentially useful genome-wide association studies of root architecture. GrassRoots Biotechnology will apply a novel, high through-put and accurate imaging and analysis platform, RootXpose, for imaging roots targeting three dimensions and for measuring complex root traits for 242 sorghum genotypes of a minicore collection from 58 Countries from ICARISAT. Well also develop genome-wide association studies tools in sorghum to determine the genetics of root traits, and identify root traits that correlate with agronomic performance. Collectively, this project will set foundations to enhance sorghum productivity through modifying its root architecture traits for sustainable agriculture and increase the profitability and market share of this crop.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The ultimate goal of this project is to improve sorghum agronomic productivity by enhancing root system architecture using genome-wide association studies. In Phase I, the primary objectives of this project are to 1) apply our novel phenotyping platform to dissect variation in sorghum root architecture in a population of 242 genetically diverse sorghum varieties from the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) minicore collection, 2) develop methods and tools for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for these root traits in sorghum, and 3) identify root traits that correlate with agronomic performance in the field as recorded by the ICRISAT. Outputs of this work will include 1) root phenotyping datasets from our novel root phenotyping platform including 22 root traits for all 242 sorghum varieties, 2) genotyping by sequencing datasets for a subset of 34 extreme genotypes, 3) GWAS analysis for root traits in the 34 extreme genotypes and 4) correlation of root traits with agronomic data to prioritize root traits. This phase I work will set the foundation to conduct a large scale GWAS study on agronomically relevant root traits on all 242 sorghum varieties within the collection. Ultimately, this work will lead to enhancement of sorghum productivity through modifying its root architecture traits for sustainable agriculture and increase the profitability and market share of this crop.
Project Methods
GrassRoots novel and high-throughput phenotyping platform, RootXpose, will be employed to characterize 22 root traits for the sorghum minicore collection of 242 genotypes from 58 countries from ICRISAT. We will compare six root traits of 34 extreme genotypes of the minicore collection between RootXpose and soil culture. We will then correlate 22 RSA traits from RootXpose and six RSA traits in soil with 21 agronomic traits from ICRISAT. We will establish methods for genotyping-by-sequencing by analyzing 100 genotypes from the minicore collection and perform genome-wide association studies for 22 root traits and 21 ICRISAT agronomic traits on 100 sorghum genotypes to identify genetic control of root architecture.