The effects of genetic variation in seed parent lines for high biomass F1 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in the breeding process

Abstract

AbstractThe agronomic traits of sorghum F1 lines from 93 seed parent lines crossed with a fixed pollen parent were evaluated in three different locations, namely, Chiba, Miyazaki and Nagano, in Japan in 2016 and 2017. Genomic DNA extraction from 93 sorghum parental lines and subsequent analysis were performed for determining genetic diversity. Data on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained through the Genotyping by Sequencing method. Overall, 3,577 SNPs were obtained from the parent seed lines and were grouped into four clusters characterized by stem length and lodging resistance. Genome‐wide association studies were conducted using field data to identify genes that conferred agronomic traits. There were peaks in stem length, dry matter weight, lodging and aphid damage on Chr. 9, which covered the Dw1 gene locus, suggesting that the gene exerted a multi‐faced effect on agronomic traits. The F1 lines from the seed parent lines with the homozygous dw1 mutant gene were likely to have shorter stem length, lower dry matter weight, resistance to lodging and severer aphid damage.