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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #417516
Research Project: Championing Improvement of Sorghum and Other Agriculturally Important Species through Data Stewardship and Functional Dissection of Complex Traits

Location: Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research

Title: Evaluating Nitrate Tolerance in Male Sterile Sorghum Lines for implications for safe forage Production

Author
item BRAYNEN, JANEEN - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item KUMARI, SUNITA - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item REGULSKI, MICHAEL - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item OLSON, ANDREW - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
item ROONEY, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University
item Klein, Robert - Bob
item Boerman, Nicholas
item Ware, Doreen

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sorghum serves as a vital forage crop within varied farming systems, where nitrogen's role is key to both crop yield and plant vitality. To enhance crop yields and avert nitrogen shortages, farming methods often lean on heavy nitrogen fertilizer application. This practice, however, leads to notable environmental concerns. Excess nitrogen, surpassing plant uptake capabilities, can infiltrate water bodies, instigating eutrophication and harming aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, residual nitrogen in soil can lead to nitrate accumulation in plants, raising concerns over nitrate poisoning, which can be deadly for ruminant animals consuming this forage. In light of this, a study by Ralston, et al., 2023, revealed varying nitrate levels in 20 sorghum inbred lines, exploring genotypic differences in nitrate storage among these lines. Our study progresses Ralston, et al. 's research by investigating four specific male sterile sorghum A-lines, chosen for their diverse nitrate content profiles, alongside BTx623 as the benchmark genome. The research methodology included growing more than 50 plants from the four A-lines (ATx645, ATx3408, A.11022, and A.07258bst) and BTx623, both in hydroponic and sand-based mediums in a greenhouse, under both high (20mM) and standard (1mM) ammonium nitrate levels, to mimic varied nitrate conditions. Through sequential transcriptome analysis of hydroponically grown samples, a notable variance was observed in gene expression under high nitrate conditions, especially in genes related to nitrate reduction and photosynthesis, exhibiting distinct and consistent trends among lines with different historical nitrate accumulation rates. These results confirm significant genetic diversity among the studied sorghum lines for breeding purposes, aiming to reduce leaf nitrate levels below the toxicity threshold of 10,000 µg g-1, while also improving overall crop productivity.