Development of trait-enhanced sorghum varieties using genomics-enabled breeding in West Africa

Scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, at 5:00 p.m. in the “Aula Talento All'Opera” (Palazzo Boyl) the seminar “Development of sorghum varieties with improved characteristics through the use of genomics in hybridization in West Africa”, held by Manna Faina, a Ph.D. in Plant breeding and genetics from Kansas State University and is the head of the biotechnology lab of the National Institute of Agronomic Research of Niger.

Abstract

This seminar tells the story of an international genomics-enabled breeding network aiming at i) developing trait-predictive molecular markers for resistance to Striga hermonthica, a destructive obligate parasite of staple cereals in Africa, and ii) direct use of these markers to breed Strigaresistant sorghum varieties for smallholders in Niger, the least developed country in the world. To develop usable and locally relevant Striga resistance markers, we used population genomics analyses of global and local sorghum agrobiodiversity using genotyping-by-sequencing, and identified SNPs in linkage disequilibrium with lgs1-Δ, a natural deletion allele for the the Low Germination Stimulant 1 (LGS1) conferring Striga resistance. The new markers successfully differentiated known resistance and susceptible genotypes (as well as artificial heterozygotes). We then introgressed resistance alleles in locally-preferred genetic background with backcrosses with selected sorghum genotypes. Root exudates from lgs1-Δ backcross lines had drastically reduced Striga germination in laboratory and pot assays. Multi-environment participatory trials and genotyping of the developed sorghum genotypes confirmed lgs1-Δ was introgressed with little disruption to local-preference traits. These findings provide a practical roadmap for collaborative genomics-enabled breeding of trait-enhanced varieties for the world’s lowest-resourced farmers.

Details in the attached flyer.