This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project aims to identify novel root system architecture (RSA) traits that can be used for sustainable improvement of cereal crop yield through breeding or biotechnology approaches. RSA has been correlated with agronomic performance in many crops, particularly under limiting water and nutrient conditions. However, historical deficiencies in root phenotyping technologies have impeded efforts to target root traits directly for crop improvement. In Phase I, a novel high throughput root phenotyping platform will be used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) that regulate beneficial RSA traits in sorghum. Sorghum is a close relative of corn, and the third most important cereal crop in the US. Its small sequenced genome, abundant genetic and phenotypic diversity, and adaptation to cultivation under limiting water and nutrient conditions make it an ideal crop for these studies. Subsequent phases of this research will identify the genes underlying the QTL, and validate the identified traits for commercialization.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project, if successful, will be to increase cereal production in response to growing demands for food. Cereal grains are the most important source of human food and animal feed worldwide. While tremendous gains have been made in cereal crop yields over the last 60 years, the rate of these gains is slowing. At the same time, there is a drive for more sustainable agriculture due to increasing fertilizer and fuel costs, water availability issues, soil degradation, and environmental concerns. Thus, there is a pressing need for sustainable solutions to increasing cereal grain yield. This project will combine unique root phenotyping expertise and state-of-the-art quantitative genetics approaches to discover sorghum root system architecture traits that are important for agronomic performance under low input conditions. These traits will be commercialized through licensing or alliances with seed companies for the improvement of sorghum (seed market ~$250M) and corn (seed market ~$7B) germplasm through breeding or biotech approaches.
