Sorghum stands as one of humanity’s earliest cultivated grains and offers numerous characteristics that enhance food security, adaptability to changing climates, and biodiversity. Nevertheless, scientists have struggled for years to understand how these beneficial attributes function, hindering advancements in growing this grain efficiently. Recently though, a novel method along with a specialized gene bank created together with the University of Copenhagen has accelerated research and development processes like never before. This progress paves the path towards cultivating sorghum effectively across different regions globally, including both developed nations and developing countries.
Rich in plant proteins, fiber, and minerals, sorghum is inherently gluten-free. Additionally, it utilizes soil nitrogen more efficiently than many crops, minimizing the requirement for fertilizers—a boon for both climate health and biodiversity. Furthermore, this resilient crop can endure periods of drought and flooding without issue. Known also as durra, the sorghum plant has an extensive array of beneficial attributes.
Certainly, numerous factors have led to growing interest from both scientists and industries regarding sorghum. They envision significant opportunities for sorghum as we face an era marked by heightened climate shifts, more frequent dry spells, and floods.
The only issue is: how it accomplishes all of this still remains unclear.
Currently, a novel method known as "FIND-IT" enables the rapid detection of fresh mutations in particular genes across extensive seed repositories, providing optimism about unlocking the plant’s full potential. In conjunction with this recently assembled vast seed bank, the team anticipates developing crop varieties adaptable to cultivation in both northern and southern climates at an unprecedented pace.
An article featured in a special edition of The Plant Journal Physiologia Plantarum The study centers around novel breeding methods. The researchers introduce both of these two newly created research tools, which were developed through a strong partnership among the University of Copenhagen, the Carlsberg Laboratory, and the University of Queensland in Australia.
Sorghum inherently resists genetic modification. Despite advanced genetic techniques such as CRISPR and GMOs—which usually enable more accurate and quicker alterations compared to conventional breeding—these methods show restricted efficacy when applied to sorghum.
This presents a difficulty when cultivating agronomic characteristics in crops through conventional breeding methods due to their prolonged duration. Nonetheless, these innovative research tools offer an entirely fresh opportunity.
The project has given us access to an enormous haystack—quite literally—as it includes a thorough assortment of sorghum plants along with their seeds, representing almost all the genetic diversity found within sorghum.
"Simultaneously, using 'FIND-IT,' we have developed a method that enables us to swiftly and effectively locate the needle in the haystack—specifically, identifying the variations within particular genes that we believe are essential for determining the plant’s characteristics," explains Associate Professor Nanna Bjarnholt from the University of Copenhagen's Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
Significant promise in both Europe and the Global South
Sorghum is currently among the most crucial crops in the Global South, particularly in Central and Southern Africa. Additionally, there is considerable potential for growing sorghum within the latitudinal range of Europe.
In Europe, we stand to gain significantly from utilizing sorghum’s rich nutrient profile and its robustness against challenges like drought. Thanks to these recent advancements, we now possess the chance to cultivate a sorghum variety tailored specifically for European climates while also ensuring it yields seeds with excellent nutritional value and suitable qualities for making innovative plant-based food products.
"Simultaneously, this lays down a robust base for crafting enhanced strains that could potentially be grown with greater efficiency farther south—for instance, in sub-Saharan Africa—where demands for drought tolerance and efficient nutrient uptake might grow increasingly vital," states Professor Birger Lindberg Møller from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
The researchers already possess multiple clues that they are enthusiastic about pursuing to unlock the plant's potential.
"We've pinpointed several candidate genes in the plant that we think could be associated with drought resilience and various crucial traits in sorghum. This opens up opportunities to validate our hypotheses. Additionally, fellow scientists can expand upon this research for their investigations into the plant. The prospects look promising since sorghum holds significant potential," explains Bjarnholt.
The appropriate soil, the correct method—and the proper connection
Experts from the University of Copenhagen and the Carlsberg Laboratory have contributed their knowledge about the sorghum plant and helped select appropriate gene variations from an extensive database comprising 150,000 different seed types. These specialists also acted as intermediaries between theoretical research and the hands-on experience of scientists based in Queensland, Australia—a region known for its harsh, arid climate—who specialize in growing crops under challenging soil conditions.
The fresh seed collection along with the methodology has been shared with other scientists, paving the way for expanded sorghum studies.
Collectively, these form an important research tool since the extensive array of variations can now be quickly examined for particular genes. This process involves splitting the collection into more manageable subsets and then employing PCR tests—as familiarized through COVID-19 screenings—to each subset to pinpoint the accurate DNA sequences. As a result, this technique has significantly expanded the quantity of variants that researchers can efficiently analyze.
"We are already seeing significant enthusiasm from research groups globally. Despite our extensive studies of the plant over many years, it continues to be enigmatic. We still lack understanding regarding numerous aspects of the plant and the reasons behind its specific characteristics. Nonetheless, an increasing recognition is emerging in various locations about the immense potential this plant possesses," notes Bjarnholt.
More information: Patrick John Mason et al., Leveraging a Large EMS-Generated Sorghum Population to Accelerate Crop Enhancement Physiologia Plantarum (2024). DOI: 10.1111/ppl.14449
Furnished by the University of Copenhagen
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