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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #396297
Research Project: Discovery and Improvement of Traits to Enhance Sorghum as a Multiple Purpose Crop

Location: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research

Title: Genetic dissection of phenotypic plasticity in flowering time and plant height in sorghum under natural field conditions

Author
item WEI, JIALU - Iowa State University
item GUO, TINGTING - Iowa State University
item MU, QI - Iowa State University
item ALLADASSI, MAHULE-ELYSE-BO - Iowa State University
item MURAL, RAVI - University Of Nebraska
item BOYLES, RICHARD - Clemson University
item HOFFMANN, LEO - Texas A&M University
item Hayes, Chad
item THOMPSON, ADDIE - Michigan State University
item SALAS-FERNANDEZ, MARIA - Iowa State University
item ROONEY, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University
item KRESOVICH, STEVEN - Clemson University
item SCHNABLE, JAMES - Iowa State University
item LI, XIANRAN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item YU, JIANMING - Iowa State University

Submitted to: Plant Cell and Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/3/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Sorghum is an important grain crop due partially to its drought tolerance and high yield potential under different environmental conditions. Given the importance of sorghum, it is essential to understand the genetic mechanisms of plant height and flowering time in various environments. In this study, we evaluated diverse sorghum in 14 different environments varying in day-length, temperature, soil type, and production practices. Results from this study identify 10 unique genomic regions dependent on specific environmental conditions that contribute to plant height and flowering time. Our findings will enrich our understanding of genetic and environment interactions and will also help plant breeders produce improved sorghum.

Technical Abstract: Phenotypic plasticity is the property of a genotype to produce different phenotypes under different environmental conditions. Understanding the genetic and environmental factors behind phenotypic plasticity can help answer some longstanding biology questions and enhance performance prediction. In this study, we investigated the phenotypic plasticity of flowering time and plant height with a set of diverse sorghum lines evaluated across 14 natural field environments. Environmental index (i.e., a combination of environmental variable and growth period) was identified to quantitatively connect the environments: growing degree days from 32 to 59 days after planting (GDD32-59) for flowering time and diurnal temperature range from 25 to 31 days after planting (DTR25-31) for plant height. Reaction norms were then obtained with the identified indices for genetic dissection of phenotypic plasticity and performance prediction. Genome-wide association studies detected different sets of loci for reaction norm parameters: intercept and slope. These loci included 10 new genomic regions in addition to known maturity (Ma1) and dwarfing genes (Dw1, Dw2, Dw3, Dw4, and qHT7.1). Cross validations under multiple scenarios showed promising results of predicting diverse germplasm in dynamic environments. Empirical validations at 4 new environments further demonstrated the in-season prediction capability enabled by the identified environmental index. Our findings showed that concerted effort to exploit phenotype, genotype, and environment could not only enrich our understanding of gene-environmental interplay but also facilitate prediction-guided breeding for future environments.