Abstract
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is a multipurpose food crop which is ranked among the top five cereal crops in the world, and is used as a source of food, fodder, feed, and fuel. The genus Sorghum consists of 24 diverse species. Cultivated sorghum was derived from the wild progenitor S. bicolor subsp. verticilliflorum, which is commonly distributed in Africa. Archeological evidence has identified regions in Sudan, Ethiopia, and West Africa as centers of origin of sorghum, with evidence for more than one domestication event. The taxonomy of the genus is not fully resolved, with alternative classifications that should be resolved by further molecular analysis. Sorghum can withstand severe droughts which makes it suitable to grow in regions where other major crops cannot be grown. Wild relatives of many crops have played significant roles as genetic resources for crop improvement. Although there have been many studies of domesticated sorghum, few studies have reported on its wild relatives. In Sorghum, some species are widely distributed while others are very restricted. Of the 17 native sorghum species found in Australia, none have been cultivated. Isolation of these wild species from domesticated crops makes them a highly valuable system for studying the evolution of adaptive traits such as biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. The diversity of the genus Sorghum has probably arisen as a result of the extensive variability of the habitats over which they are distributed. The wild gene pool of sorghum may, therefore, harbor many useful genes for abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. While there are many examples of successful examples of introgression of novel alleles from the wild relatives of other species from Poaceae, such as rice, wheat, maize, and sugarcane, studies of introgression from wild sorghum are limited. An improved understanding of wild sorghums will better allow us to exploit this previously underutilized gene pool for the production of more resilient crops.
Highlights
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, commonly known as sorghum, is ranked among the five main cereal crops in the world (Mace et al, 2009; Venkateswaran et al, 2014)
The very close relationship of these two subgenera has been found in many other studies using morphological, cytogenetic and molecular studies despite their being considered as two separate subgenera. Another clearly discrete clade was observed with all the Parasorghum and Stiposorghum species with three different clusters including S. brachypodum and S. matarankense in one cluster, S. interjectum and S. ecarinatum in another cluster, and S. exstans, S. intrans and S. angustum in the third cluster
This study demonstrates that most of the modifications in the revised classification of Spangler (2003) are not valid except for placing Chaetosorghum and Heterosorghum together in one section
Summary
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, commonly known as sorghum, is ranked among the five main cereal crops in the world (Mace et al, 2009; Venkateswaran et al, 2014). The very close relationship of these two subgenera has been found in many other studies using morphological, cytogenetic and molecular studies despite their being considered as two separate subgenera Another clearly discrete clade was observed with all the Parasorghum and Stiposorghum species with three different clusters including S. brachypodum and S. matarankense in one cluster, S. interjectum and S. ecarinatum in another cluster, and S. exstans, S. intrans and S. angustum in the third cluster. Studies have been done to detect the direction of gene flow through the cultivated, wild and weedy forms of sorghum, mainly based on the agricultural regions in Kenya (Mutegi et al, 2010; Mutegi et al, 2012), Ethiopia and Niger (Tesso et al, 2008), northern Cameroon (Barnaud et al, 2009), and western Africa (Sagnard et al, 2011).
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