grm 2013: developing drought-adapted sorghum germplasm for africa and australia -- a borrell

Working together with the Queensland Government

Developing drought-adapted sorghum germplasm for Africa and Australia

University of Queensland Andrew Borrell & David Jordan

Queensland Government B. George-Jaeggli & Simon Hamlet

IER, Mali Sidi Coulibaly & Niaba Teme

INERA, Burkina Faso Clarisse Barro-Kondombo

ARC, Sudan Abdalla Mohamad

INRAN, Niger Soumana Souley

EIAR, Ethiopia Alemu Tirfessa & Asfaw Adugna

KARI, Kenya Clement Kamau


Outline

1. Introduction

2. Highlights from the past year

3. Tangible products created by our project

4. Anticipated impact of products on downstream beneficiaries

5. How they will these products be maintained and sustained?

6. Conclusions


Crop productivity in water-limited environments is regulated by:

Drought adaptation in cereals

The ‘stay-green’ trait affects all three processes.

a) the extent of water capture by the crop (T),

b) the efficiency with which the crop exchanges water for CO2 via transpiration in producing biomass (TE), and

c) the fraction of the total biomass that ends up in the grain (HI).


What is stay-green and why is it important?

There is a high frequency of post-flowering drought in cereal-growing areas world-wide, including north-eastern Australia, central-western India, southern USA and sub-Saharan Africa.

Delayed foliar senescence, known as stay-green, is a drought adaptation trait that enhances crop productivity in the field when water is limiting after flowering.


Higher yield

Increased water use during grain filling

Increased water availability at flowering

Increased water accessibility

(roots)

Reduced water use at flowering

Higher plant water status

Increased growth rate

Increased TE

Delayed leaf senescence

Smaller plant size

‘Low tillering’ mechanism

‘Small leaf’ mechanism

Modified leaf anatomy

Driving T

Driving TE

Driving HI

Emergent consequences

Increased N uptake

Increased stem strength


Our project aims to

a) develop drought-adapted sorghum germplasm for Africa and Australia, and

b) provide training in crop improvement for scientists in Africa.

Over the past year, our project has expanded to six African countries.

Highlights from the past year


African partners (Phase 2)


Highlights from the past year: Germplasm development

Stay-green enriched germplasm is currently being evaluated in six African countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia & Kenya).

The germplasm will be phenotyped for phenology, plant height, tillering, stay-green, biomass, grain yield, harvest index and various grain quality parameters.


Highlights from the past year: Training

Training in Australia for visiting scientists from Mali on sorghum crop improvement (Feb 2012).



African scientists from our GCP project attended the review of a related ACIAR project on stay-green in Hyderabad (Feb 2013).



Training in Ethiopia as part of a related BMGF project (April 2013).


Highlights from the past year: Visit to Kenya (Kiboko)


Training in Australia: February 2014

Four African sorghum breeders will be trained in Australia next February.

West Africa

• Clarisse Pulcherie Barro-Kondombo (Burkina Faso)

• Aissata Mamadou Ibrahim (Niger)

East Africa

• Mohamed Yousif (Sudan)

• Rachael Kamene Kisilu (Kenya)


Genomics Simulation Modelling

Data management

Phenotypic data

Integrated information that is

better able to address complex quantitative traits

Environmental characterisation

Enhanced genetic gain

Training on linking breeding, molecular & physiological aspects


“What if” questions • What type of environments are common in our region? • What type of root architecture would work best in my current environments and management systems? • What combination of variation in root angle and row spacing would give the best yields on average at a particular location? What happens if I plant earlier? • What is the likely variation (risk) associated with growing the best combination?

Root angle varies in sorghum germplasm

Trait Biology

G

E

M

Crop model

Historical weather and soil data

Management options

Crop Simulation Modelling: A Linking Technology


Genome Resources: A Linking Technology

Root angle varies in sorghum germplasm

Trait Biology Genome resources

(maps, markers, genes) Breeding program

Genotypes and phenotypic data

Questions we can answer • Are the genes for root architecture segregating in my breeding program? • Am I selecting for particular root architecture? • Are there other sources of the trait I should look at? • What impact does a particular gene for root architecture have in a specific environment? • Does variation in these genes have different effects in early flowering compared to late flowering genotypes?


Product One Title: Backcross-derived lines containing stay-green introgressions. Description: 15 backcross-derived introgression lines (13 lines from F2_R04021-2/PI609084 and 2 lines from F2_R04003-2/PI585749). Use: Diverse drought-adapted germplasm for sorghum breeders to use in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.

Tangible products generated by our project


Product Two Title: RIL populations segregating for the stay-green trait. Description: Four RIL populations developed by crossing an elite Australian stay-green female (R931945-2-2) with four male Malian lines (PI585749, PI585750, PI609084 & PI609114) totalling 917 individuals. Use: Mapping population for identifying drought resistance QTLs. Source of drought-adapted germplasm for African sorghum breeders.



Product Three Title: F1 hybrids containing the stay-green trait. Description: Six F1 hybrids based on two Malian males (PI585749 & PI609278) crossed with three elite female parent lines from Australia (A1*9_B010054, A1*F_B963676 & F2_ms3*3_R931945-2-2) that contrast in the level of stay-green. Use: Drought-adapted germplasm for sorghum breeders to utilise.



Impact of products on downstream beneficiaries

Diverse drought-adapted germplasm for sorghum breeders to use in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.

It is anticipated that useful varieties will be developed with this germplasm and made available to small-holder farmers via the appropriate delivery pipeline (this will vary from country to country).


How will these products be maintained and sustained?

The diverse drought-adapted germplasm developed in this project will be incorporated into the various sorghum breeding programs in the six targeted countries.

The germplasm will be maintained in the seed-stores from each of the sorghum breeding programs. Seed quality will be sustained by increasing seed on a regular basis.

Key drought-adapted lines arising from the germplasm developed in this project could also be stored in centralised high-quality seed banks.


Conclusions

Drought-adapted sorghum germplasm has been developed for Africa and Australia.

It is currently being evaluated in six African countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.

African sorghum breeders/physiologists from these countries are undertaking training in crop improvement, focusing on technologies that link genetics, genomics, molecular biology and crop physiology.

Drought-adapted germplasm will be incorporated into the various African sorghum breeding programs based on selection by local breeders.

grm 2013: developing drought-adapted sorghum germplasm for africa and australia -- a borrell

Technology

root angle

sorghum breeding

tangible products

african sorghum

adapted sorghum

sorghum breeders

sorghum germplasm

root architecture