Location: Grain Quality and Structure Research
Project Number: 3020-43440-002-010-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2017
End Date: Sep 1, 2022
Objective:
The objective is to identify a genetic cross incompatibility system between sorghum and its weedy relatives by screening S. bicolor lines for their cross compatibility with S. halepense. These lines will represent the broad genetic diversity in sorghum. The sorghum genotypes will be used to pollinate Johnsongrass into which we have introgressed the iap (inhibition of alien pollen) gene. Specifically, we seek to identify those lines that will NOT hybridize to this iap S. halepense genotype.
Approach:
1: Controlled crosses will be carried out in the greenhouse in the following scenarios.
2: Experiments will be conducted under field conditions to estimate the natural levels of hybridization between cultivated grain sorghum and johnsongrass in both directions.
3: The progeny phenotype, genotype and fitness will be characterized. Specific observations include seedling vigor, ploidy, time to flowering, male fertility, female fertility, plant height, leaf width, number of tillers, above ground biomass, rhizome production and size, compactness of the raceme, fecundity, seed morphology, shattering, seed viability and dormancy, and progeny seedling vigor.
4: Seed harvested from the feral sorghum plants will be planted in a greenhouse and evaluated for progeny characteristics, as described in objective 3.
