Sorghum, a promising multiple-use crop for dry and hot environments

Authors: Xin, Zhanguo; AIKEN, ROBERT - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Planta
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/27/2022
Publication Date: 3/9/2022
Citation: Xin, Z., Aiken, R. 2022. Sorghum, a promising multiple-use crop for dry and hot environments. Planta. 255. Article 83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-022-03866-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-022-03866-7

Interpretive Summary: Due to its excellent tolerance to multiple environmental stresses, sorghum is not only an important food crop for many arid and semi-arid areas but also a promising crop for bioenergy. The international journal Planta published a topical collection of sorghum research in 2022. This collection issue accepted 36 review and original research articles. This manuscript is a summary of the accepted manuscripts and a brief statement of future aspect of sorghum research by an ARS scientist and colleague from Kansas State University.

Technical Abstract: Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is a C4 crop with origins in the African tropics. It is an important subsistence crop for many developing arid and semiarid regions because of its excellent tolerance to drought, high temperature, salinity, and ability to grow on marginal soils. Sorghum is also used for forage and fiber and has recently emerged as an important bioenergy feedstock. With a relatively small, well-annotated diploid genome (~730 Mb), pangenome, diversity panels for genome-wide association analysis, mapping populations and mutant libraries, sorghum can serve as model for other C4 crops with more complex genomes. This collection of papers describes the current state of sorghum genomics and the potential for use of sorghum as a model crop, as well as the potential to improve grain yield through breeding, genomics, and genetic engineering.