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Quantitative trait mapping of plant architecture in two BC1F2 populations of Sorghum Bicolor × S. halepense and comparisons to two other sorghum populations

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Abstract

Key message

Comparing populations derived, respectively, from polyploid Sorghum halepense and its progenitors improved knowledge of plant architecture and showed that S. halepense harbors genetic novelty of potential value for sorghum improvement

Vegetative growth and the timing of the vegetative-to-reproductive transition are critical to a plant’s fitness, directly and indirectly determining when and how a plant lives, grows and reproduces. We describe quantitative trait analysis of plant height and flowering time in the naturally occurring tetraploid Sorghum halepense, using two novel BC1F2 populations totaling 246 genotypes derived from backcrossing two tetraploid Sorghum bicolor x S. halepense F1 plants to a tetraploidized S. bicolor. Phenotyping for two years each in Bogart, GA and Salina, KS allowed us to dissect variance into narrow-sense genetic (QTLs) and environmental components. In crosses with a common S. bicolor BTx623 parent, comparison of QTLs in S. halepense, its rhizomatous progenitor S. propinquum and S. bicolor race guinea which is highly divergent from BTx623 permit inferences of loci at which new alleles have been associated with improvement of elite sorghums. The relative abundance of QTLs unique to the S. halepense populations may reflect its polyploidy and subsequent ‘diploidization’ processes often associated with the formation of genetic novelty, a possibility further supported by a high level of QTL polymorphism within sibling lines derived from a common S. halepense parent. An intriguing hypothesis for further investigation is that polyploidy of S. halepense following 96 million years of abstinence, coupled with natural selection during its spread to diverse environments across six continents, may provide a rich collection of novel alleles that offer potential opportunities for sorghum improvement.

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Availability of data and material

Genotypic data is available at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.00467/full#supplementary-material. Phenotypic data can be found in the supplementary documents.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the support of the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program (2012-01658 to AHP and TSC), USAID Feed The Future (AID-OAA-A-13-00044 to AHP, TSC) program, and NIFA Global Food Security CAP (2015-68004-23492 to AHP, JNB). We thank members of the Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory (PGML) for help with field work.

Funding

We appreciate the support of the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program (2012-01658 to AHP and TSC), and NIFA Global Food Security CAP (2015-68004-23492 to AHP, JNB). This work was funded in part by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security under Agreement # AID-OAA-A-13-00044 (to AHP, TSC) as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Climate Resilient Sorghum. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors alone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory, University of Georgia, 111 Riverbend Rd, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    WenQian Kong, Valorie H. Goff, Jon S. Robertson, Gary J. Pierce, Cornelia Lemke, Rosana Compton & Andrew H. Paterson

  2. The Land Institute, 2440 E Water Well Rd, Salina, KS, 67401, USA

    Pheonah Nabukalu & T. S. Cox

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  1. WenQian Kong
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  2. Pheonah Nabukalu
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  3. T. S. Cox
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  4. Valorie H. Goff
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  7. Cornelia Lemke
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Contributions

WQK conducted the experiment, analyzed the data wrote the manuscript; PN conducted the experiment and collected phenotypic data; TSC designed, supervised the experiment and edited the paper; VHG, JSR, GRP, CL and RC carried out the field experiment and collected the phenotypic data. AHP designed and supervised the experiment, edited the manuscript and recommended analytical suggestions.

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Correspondence to Andrew H. Paterson.

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Communicated by Jianbing Yan.

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Kong, W., Nabukalu, P., Cox, T.S. et al. Quantitative trait mapping of plant architecture in two BC1F2 populations of Sorghum Bicolor × S. halepense and comparisons to two other sorghum populations. Theor Appl Genet 134, 1185–1200 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-020-03763-1

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