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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #363471
Research Project: Enhancement of Elite Sorghum Germplasm through Introgression Breeding and Analysis of Traits Critical to Hybrid Development

Location: Crop Germplasm Research

Title: Registration of 11 diverse sorghum germplasm lines for grain and silage hybrid production

Author
item HORNE, DAVID - Texas A&M University
item PATIL, NIKHIL - Texas A&M University
item Klein, Robert - Bob
item MILLER, FREDERICK - Texas A&M University
item HOFFMANN, LEO - Texas A&M University
item KLEIN, PATRICIA - Texas A&M University
item ROONEY, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/2/2019
Publication Date: 5/12/2020
Citation: Horne, D., Patil, N., Klein, R.R., Miller, F., Hoffmann, L., Klein, P., Rooney, W. 2020. Registration of 11 diverse sorghum germplasm lines for grain and silage hybrid production. Journal of Plant Registrations. 14:179-188. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20001.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20001

Interpretive Summary: A wealth of genetic diversity and valuable traits exist in the ARS sorghum germplasm collections. Owing to its tropical origin, sorghum requires short day lengths to flower and hence much of the ARS collection flowers too late or is too tall to be useful for seed production in temperate-zone environments. Herein 11 germplasm lines derived from the Reinstated Sorghum Conversion program were released by Texas A&M AgriLife Research. These elite lines were selected based on hybrid performance for either grain or silage production. These lines combined agronomic productivity with greater genetic diversity as confirmed via genome sequencing. These eleven elite parental lines will provide new genetic diversity for forage and grain hybrid improvement programs.

Technical Abstract: Genotypic variance is necessary for trait improvement as limited diversity can reduce genetic gain in crop improvement. To maintain genetic diversity, a wealth of germplasm exists in the USDA-ARS sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] collection, but most of the accessions are not adapted to temperate climates. To address this issue, the Reinstated Sorghum Conversion program (RSC, circa 2009-2014) converted 155 tropical accessions to combine height, early maturing F3 and BC1F3 families. Herein the identification of 11 germplasm lines released by Texas A&M AgriLife Research in 2019 and derived from the RSC program are described. This germplasm was derived from RSC families that was selected based on testcross hybrid performance for either grain or silage production. Six lines are grain sorghum pollinators, one line is a seed parent, and four lines are silage pollinators. These lines combined agronomic productivity with greater genetic diversity as confirmed via genotyping-by-sequencing. These eleven parental germplasms were to provide new genetic diversity for forage and grain hybrid improvement programs.