Location: Crop Germplasm Research
Project Number: 3091-21000-043-002-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 1, 2016
End Date: Mar 31, 2021
Objective:
This project focuses on the conversion of elite tropical sorghum to short, early-flowering cultivars with an emphasis on enhanced grain yield and abiotic/biotic stress tolerance, and to create a community-accessible database that contains key agronomic and genotypic data relevant to germplasm arising from the USCP-funded Conversion Program. The product from this proposal will be improved sorghum germplasm, new breeding methodologies for rapid conversion of tropical accessions, and a community-accessible database housing data related to this project.
Approach:
To convert tropical sorghum to temperate adaptation utilizing a breeding scheme augmented with robust molecular markers linked to height and maturity loci, with the long-term goal of expediting the introduction of new germplasm and favorable alleles into sorghum breeding programs. Release germplasm to public and private breeders in early stages and later stages during the conversion process to expedite the incorporation on new alleles into existing breeding populations. Genetically fingerprint tropical accessions and converted materials to obtain a catalog of the regions of the tropical genomes that are critical for improved agronomic importance. Create a community-accessible database to curate data related to this project.
