Brown midrib mutants have been isolated in maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) arising by either spontaneous or chemical mutagenesis. The characteristic brown coloration of the leaf mid veins is associated with reduced lignin content and altered lignin composition, traits useful to improve forage digestibility for livestock. Brown midrib phenotype i...

The ability of the wheat Lr34 multipathogen resistance gene (Lr34res) to function across a wide taxonomic boundary was investigated in transgenic Sorghum bicolor. Increased resistance to sorghum rust and anthracnose disease symptoms following infection with the biotrophic pathogen Puccinia purpurea and the hemibiotroph Colletotrichum sublineolum, respectively, occurred in transgenic plants expr...

Sorghum is one of the most important cereal crops in the semi-arid tropics. Several insect pests damage it. The possibility of identifying genotypes with multiple resistance to these pests and transferring the relevant genes into high-yielding varieties and hybrids has been considered as an attractive approach to reducing yield losses. A set of 12 cytoplasmic male-sterile and maintainer lines, ...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important crop originated in Africa that shows susceptibility to herbivores. In this study, we identified two sorghum genotypes with highly contrasting levels of stem damage caused by the caterpillars Asian borer (Ostrinia furnacalis Guenée). Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from genetic cross between resistant (BTx623) and susceptible (NOG) were used ...

The presence of lignin reduces the quality of lignocellulosic biomass for forage materials and feedstock for biofuels. In C4 grasses, the brown midrib phenotype has been linked to mutations to genes in the monolignol biosynthesis pathway. For example, the Bmr6 gene in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) has been previously shown to encode cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), which catalyzes the final st...

Adaptation of domesticated species to diverse agroclimatic regions has led to abundant trait diversity. However, the resulting population structure and genetic heterogeneity confounds association mapping of adaptive traits. To address this challenge in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]-a widely adapted cereal crop-we developed a nested association mapping (NAM) population using 10 diverse g...

Reducing lignin concentration in lignocellulosic biomass can increase forage digestibility for ruminant livestock and saccharification yields of biomass for bioenergy. In sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and several other C4 grasses, brown midrib (bmr) mutants have been shown to reduce lignin concentration. Putative bmr mutants isolated from an EMS-mutagenized population were characterized...

Pollen viability is an important parameter of yield as for as interaction of temperature with seed setting is concerned. Rabi sorghum is one of the major cereal crops after rice, wheat and maize. In sorghum seed setting is affected when the flowering period coincides with minimum temperature. In this context comparison was made with pollen fertility percentage and seed setting percentage vs min...