Abstract
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a subject of plant genomics research based on its importance as one of the world's leading cereal crops, a biofuels crop of high and growing importance, a progenitor of one of the world's most noxious weeds, and a botanical model for many tropical grasses with complex genomes. A rich history of genome analysis, culminating in the recent complete sequencing of the genome of a leading inbred, provides a foundation for invigorating progress toward relating sorghum genes to their functions. Further characterization of the genomes other than Saccharinae cereals may shed light on mechanisms, levels, and patterns of evolution of genome size and structure, laying the foundation for further study of sugarcane and other economically important members of the group.
Highlights
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a subject of plant genomics research based on its importance as one of the world’s leading cereal crops, a biofuels crop of high and growing importance, a progenitor of one of the world’s most noxious weeds, and a botanical model for many tropical grasses with complex genomes
The 2nd source of grain-based ethanol in the US, sorghum is a biofuel crop of growing importance
A relatively advanced state of knowledge of the genetic control of perenniality in sorghum [4, 5] and early progress in functional genomics of perenniality [6] add to its promise as a cellulosic biofuels crop
Summary
As a food and feed crop, sorghum is an important “failsafe” in the global agroecosystem. The 2nd source of grain-based ethanol in the US (after maize), sorghum is a biofuel crop of growing importance. Its lower level of gene duplication than many other tropical cereals makes sorghum, like rice, an attractive model for functional genomics. Sorghum is much more closely related than rice to many major cereal crops with complex genomes and high levels of gene duplication. Saccharum (sugarcane), arguably the most important biofuels crop worldwide, valued at ∼$30 billion including $1 billion/y in the US∗, may have shared ancestry with sorghum as little as 5 million years ago [11], retains similar gene order [12], and even produces viable progeny in some intergeneric crosses [13]. Zea has undergone one whole-genome duplication since its divergence from Sorghum [14], and Saccharum has undergone at least two [12]
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