Large-scale genome-wide association study reveals that drought-induced lodging in grain sorghum is associated with plant height and traits linked to carbon remobilisation

Wang, Xuemin; Mace, Emma; Tao, Yongfu; Cruickshank, Alan; Hunt, Colleen; Hammer, Graeme; Jordan, David

doi:10.1007/s00122-020-03665-2

Original Article
Published: 24 August 2020

Large-scale genome-wide association study reveals that drought-induced lodging in grain sorghum is associated with plant height and traits linked to carbon remobilisation

Theoretical and Applied Genetics volume 133, pages 3201–3215 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

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We detected 213 lodging QTLs and demonstrated that drought-induced stem lodging in grain sorghum is substantially associated with stay-green and plant height suggesting a critical role of carbon remobilisation.

Abstract

Sorghum is generally grown in water limited conditions and often lodges under post-anthesis drought, which reduces yield and quality. Due to its complexity, our understanding on the genetic control of lodging is very limited. We dissected the genetic architecture of lodging in grain sorghum through genome-wide association study (GWAS) on 2308 unique hybrids grown in 17 Australian sorghum trials over 3 years. The GWAS detected 213 QTLs, the majority of which showed a significant association with leaf senescence and plant height (72% and 71%, respectively). Only 16 lodging QTLs were not associated with either leaf senescence or plant height. The high incidence of multi-trait association for the lodging QTLs indicates that lodging in grain sorghum is mainly associated with plant height and traits linked to carbohydrate remobilisation. This result supported the selection for stay-green (delayed leaf senescence) to reduce lodging susceptibility, rather than selection for short stature and lodging resistance per se, which likely reduces yield. Additionally, our data suggested a protective effect of stay-green on weakening the association between lodging susceptibility and plant height. Our study also showed that lodging resistance might be improved by selection for stem composition but was unlikely to be improved by selection for classical resistance to stalk rots.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the sorghum pre-breeding team at Hermitage Research Facility for support of the field trials.

Funding

XW was financially supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and a Centennial Scholarship from The University of Queensland (UQ). This study was supported by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in Queensland (DAF), UQ and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) sorghum pre-breeding project (UQ00070).

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Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Warwick, QLD, 4370, Australia
Xuemin Wang, Emma Mace, Yongfu Tao, Colleen Hunt & David Jordan
Agri-Science Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Warwick, QLD, 4370, Australia
Emma Mace, Alan Cruickshank & Colleen Hunt
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
Graeme Hammer

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Xuemin Wang
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Emma Mace
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Yongfu Tao
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Alan Cruickshank
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Colleen Hunt
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Graeme Hammer
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David Jordan
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Contributions

XW, DJ, and GH conceived the project. XW, DJ, EM, AC, and YT contributed to the development of the analytical framework and the synthesis of the results. XW and CH conducted the statistical analyses. XW conducted the GWAS analysis. XW wrote the manuscript. All authors read and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to David Jordan.

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Wang, X., Mace, E., Tao, Y. et al. Large-scale genome-wide association study reveals that drought-induced lodging in grain sorghum is associated with plant height and traits linked to carbon remobilisation. Theor Appl Genet 133, 3201–3215 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-020-03665-2

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Received: 02 March 2020
Accepted: 03 August 2020
Published: 24 August 2020
Issue Date: November 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-020-03665-2

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