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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Wheat, Sorghum and Forage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306418
Title: Registration of N619 to N640 grain sorghum lines with waxy or wild-type endosperm

Author
item Yerka, Melinda
item Toy, John
item Funnell-Harris, Deanna
item Sattler, Scott
item Pedersen, Jeffrey

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2014
Publication Date: 4/10/2015
Publication URL: https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/jpr/pdfs/9/2/249?search-result=1
Citation: Yerka, M.K., Toy, J.J., Funnell-Harris, D.L., Sattler, S.E., Pedersen, J.F. 2015. Registration of N619 to N640 grain sorghum lines with waxy or wild-type endosperm. Journal of Plant Registrations. 9:249-253. DOI: 10.3198/jpr2014.06.0043crgs.

Interpretive Summary: Low-amylose starch from waxy varieties of corn, wheat, rice, and potato is preferable to normal starch in the ethanol industry due to shortened fermentation times, and in the food industry for its improved pasting properties. Sorghum requires less water than all of these crops, with the exception of wheat. The opportunity exists, therefore, to increase the supply of low-amylose starch through deployment of waxy varieties in semiarid regions. However, grain yield of waxy sorghum historically has been low. To test whether waxy alleles are associated with yield drag, eleven pairs of sorghum lines were developed to be near-isogenic for waxy or wild-type endosperm. Breeding work was conducted jointly by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska. Results showed that waxy alleles had no overall effect on field emergence, days to 50% anthesis, or height among entries; but the presence of yield drag was dependent on genetic background. Grain yields of the waxy lines N627, N629, N631, N633, and N639 were similar to those of their near-isogenic wild-type counterparts. N637 had the highest grain yield among all waxy lines evaluated. N619 to N640 were released in May 2014 to facilitate further evaluation of waxy genotypes and to produce hybrids for end users in the ethanol and food industries.

Technical Abstract: Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] lines A N619 to A N636 (Reg. No. GS-XXX, PI 670134 to Reg. No. GS-XXX, PI 670151); B N619 to B N636 (Reg. No. GS-XXX, PI 671777 to Reg. No. GS-XXX, PI 671794); and R N637 to R N640 (Reg. No. GS-XXX, PI 670152 to Reg. No. GS-XXX, PI 670155) comprise nine pairs of A/B lines, and two pairs of R-lines (eleven pairs total) that are near-isogenic for waxy (low-amylose) or wild-type endosperm. Breeding work was conducted jointly by the USDA-ARS and the Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, and the lines were released in May 2014. Release of these lines makes available two different waxy (wx) alleles (wxa and wxb) for development of grain sorghum as a source of low-amylose starch, whose end use is targeted to the ethanol and food industries. In particular, the release of wx and wild-type near-isogenic pairs facilitates the evaluation of agronomic performance of wx genotypes, and the release of both A and R lines facilitates the production of waxy grain hybrids.