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Sorghum early cold tolerance

early planting
Early sorghum seedling emergence in Iowa

Sorghum can be cultivated in many countries and regions in the world but it is best adapted to tropical and subtropical areas due to its African origin. Therefore, low soil temperature during early season is one of the major limitations for sorghum production in temperate climates. Tolerance to low temperatures at germination is not only desirable to ensure a good stand but it would also facilitate early planting, which could translate into longer growing seasons and, therefore, higher yields. Tolerance to cold temperatures at germination is also essential to expand sorghum cultivation to more extreme latitudes and it is a required trait for no-till or minimum-tillage practices in temperate climates.

Sorghum cold tolerance at germination has been characterized as a highly heritable trait, with significant general combining ability. QTL have been identified and could be incorporated into a marker-assisted breeding program after validation. However, a limited number of sorghum lines have been classified as cold tolerant at germination and these lines have undesirable agronomic characteristics that have hindered their use in sorghum breeding programs. Considering that it is important to find additional sources of variation for the trait, we are characterizing an unexploited set of sorghum accessions under controlled and field conditions to determine their potential to contribute cold tolerant characteristics to our breeding program.

PI: Salas Fernandez, MG.
Funding: R.F. Baker Center for Plant Breeding, Sorghum Checkoff Program

Related Publications:

  • Ortiz, D., J. Hu and M.G. Salas Fernandez. (2017). Genetic architecture of photosynthesis in Sorghum bicolor under non-stress and cold stress conditions. J. Exp. Bot. 68(16):4545-4557. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erx276.
  • Salas Fernandez, M.G., G. Schoenbaum, and S. Goggi. (2014). Novel germplasm and screening methods for early cold tolerance in sorghum. Crop Sci. 54(6):2631-2638.