Abstract
Key message
This study quantified genetic variation in root system architecture (root number, angle, length and dry mass) within a diversity panel of 1771 Ethiopian sorghum landraces and identified 22 genomic regions associated with the root variations.
Abstract
The root system architecture (RSA) of crop plants influences adaptation to water-limited conditions and determines the capacity of a plant to access soil water and nutrients. Four key root traits (number, angle, length and dry mass) were evaluated in a diversity panel of 1771 Ethiopian sorghum landraces using purpose-built root chambers. Significant genetic variation was observed in all studied root traits, with nodal root angle ranging from 16.4° to 26.6°, with a high repeatability of 78.9%. Genome wide association studies identified a total of 22 genomic regions associated with root traits which were distributed on all chromosomes except chromosome SBI-10. Among the 22 root genomic regions, 15 co-located with RSA trait QTL previously identified in sorghum, with the remaining seven representing novel RSA QTL. The majority (85.7%) of identified root angle QTL also co-localized with QTL previously identified for stay-green in sorghum. This suggests that the stay-green phenotype might be associated with root architecture that enhances water extraction during water stress conditions. The results open avenues for manipulating root phenotypes to improve productivity in abiotic stress environments via marker-assisted selection.
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All data are publicly accessible. Genotypic list with geographical information, SNP genotype and phenotypic data are available from Digital Repository and provided in Online Resource.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI), and EIAR’s Melkassa Agricultural Research Center for providing us with the sorghum landraces and passport data. This study was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation PEARL (Program for Emerging Agricultural Leaders) Program.
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This study was funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
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KB, AB, DJ and EM conceived and designed the experiments. TM and KB performed the experiments. TM, EM, CH and YT analysed the data. TM, KB, DJ, EM, AB and YT wrote the paper and editing.
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Menamo, T., Borrell, A.K., Mace, E. et al. Genetic dissection of root architecture in Ethiopian sorghum landraces. Theor Appl Genet 136, 209 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04457-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04457-0