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Genetic dissection of temperature-dependent sorghum growth during juvenile development

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Promising genome regions for improving cold tolerance of sorghum were identified on chromosomes SBI-01, SBI-03, SBI-07, and SBI-10. Chlorophyll fluorescence had no major effect on growth rates at low temperatures.

Abstract

Developing fast growing sorghum seedlings is an important breeding goal for temperate climates since low springtime temperatures are resulting in a prolonged juvenile development. The adaptation of sorghum to tropical and subtropical highlands gives hint for certain genetic variation. The goals of the present study were to detect marker-trait associations for leaf and dry matter growth rate and for chlorophyll fluorescence and content (SPAD) in relation to temperature. A diversity set comprising 194 genotypes was tested in eight controlled environments with temperatures ranging from 9.4 to 20.8 °C. Significant marker-trait associations (p < 0.05) were identified for each individual temperature regime and on the parameters of regression analyses describing the responses of growth or chlorophyll related traits to temperatures. The diversity set was fingerprinted with 171 diversity array technology (DArT) and 31 simple-sequence repeat (SSR) markers. SSRs were used to analyze the population structure while association studies were performed on DArT markers. Promising marker-trait associations for growth rates in relation to temperature were detected on chromosomes SBI-01, SBI-03, SBI-07, and SBI-10. Many promising loci were also significantly associated to the results obtained in individual low-temperature environments. Marker-trait associations for chlorophyll content and fluorescence did occasionally co-locate to those for growth during juvenile development but there was no evidence supporting our hypothesis that seedling growth at low temperatures is largely influenced by SPAD or fluorescence.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Katharina Meyer for excellent technical assistance and gratefully acknowledge the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for funding the project (BioEnergie 2021, Project No. 03154211).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Ethical standards

The experiments comply with the current German laws.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Production Systems, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Herrenhäuser Straße 2, 30419, Hannover, Germany

    Karin Fiedler, Ria Duensing, Susann Gründig & Hartmut Stützel

  2. Department of Plant Breeding, Justus-Liebig-University, Heinrich-Buff Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Wubishet A. Bekele & Rod Snowdon

  3. KWS Saat AG, Grimsehlstr.31, 37555, Einbeck, Germany

    Karin Fiedler, Susann Gründig & Arndt Zacharias

  4. Department of Agronomy, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    Ralf Uptmoor

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  1. Karin Fiedler
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  2. Wubishet A. Bekele
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  8. Ralf Uptmoor
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Correspondence to Ralf Uptmoor.

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Communicated by Hai-Chun Jing.

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Fiedler, K., Bekele, W.A., Duensing, R. et al. Genetic dissection of temperature-dependent sorghum growth during juvenile development. Theor Appl Genet 127, 1935–1948 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2350-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-014-2350-7

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