Introgression of QTLs for Drought Tolerance into Farmers’ Preferred Sorghum Varieties

Mwamahonje, A and Eleblu, J S Y and Ofori, K and Feyissa, T and Deshpande, S P and Garcia-Oliveira, A L and Bohar, R and Kigoni, M and Tongoona, P (2021) Introgression of QTLs for Drought Tolerance into Farmers’ Preferred Sorghum Varieties. Agriculture (TSI), 11 (9). pp. 1-14. ISSN 2077-0472

PDF - Published Version Available under License ["licenses_description_cc_attribution" not defined]. Download (567kB)

Abstract

Sorghum is a major staple food crop for the people in semi-arid areas of Africa and Asia. Post-flowering drought is a global constraint of sorghum production. The study aimed to improve stay-green (STG) characteristics of farmer-preferred sorghum varieties in Tanzania using marker-assisted backcrossing. A total of 752 individuals representing five BC2F1 populations and their parents were genotyped using previously reported KASP markers linked with STG 3A and STG 3B quantitative trait loci (QTL). In the BC2F1 populations, the maximum number of individuals with heterozygous alleles were observed in S35*Pato background (37) whereas only seven individuals derived from the B35*Wahi parents’ background contained heterozygous alleles. Of the 30 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, favourable alleles were observed at 18 loci in BC2F1 populations. In the BC2F1 generation, the highest (0.127 kg/panicle) grain yield was observed in the B35*NACO Mtama 1 background population. The genotypic analysis revealed the presence of favourable alleles in homozygous conditions at markers loci associated with STG 3A and STG 3B QTLs in BC2F3 populations, suggesting successful introgression of STG QTLs from the donor parents to the recurrent parents. Across water irrigation regimes, the highest (0.068 kg/panicle) mean grain weight was observed in the genotype NA316C. Therefore, our study demonstrated the utility of marker-assisted backcrossing for drought tolerance improvement of locally adapted sorghum varieties in Africa.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Research Program : Genetic Gains
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	STG, post-flowering drought tolerance, genotyping, single nucleotide polymorphism, marker-assisted selection
Subjects:	Others > Drought Tolerance Mandate crops > Sorghum
Depositing User:	Mr Nagaraju T
Date Deposited:	11 Jun 2025 04:28
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2025 04:28
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/13139
Official URL:	https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/9/883
Projects:	Shared Industrial-scale Low-density SNP Genotyping for CGIAR and Partner Breeding Programs, Genotyping support and The Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACE) Project II.
Funders:	German Academic Exchange Service, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Acknowledgement:	The authors acknowledged the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) for providing technical support when conducting research.
Links:	Google Scholar

View Statistics

Actions (login required)

View Item