Sorghum is the fifth most important grain crop worldwide. It is not only used as food and feed, but also as a resource for biofuel production. In addition, it has potential uses as a model plant for research on adaptation to environmental stress. In this study, mutant sorghum lines were generated by gammy ray irradiation. Ten of the M₆ sorghum mutant lines were selected from 28 mutant lines on the basis of agronomic characteristics. These 10 lines, along with their original accessions/cultivar, were evaluated to determine the germination rate and the shoot and root length under salt treatment. Compared with their original accessions, three mutant lines (B5, SY6, and SY7) showed significant differentiation under saline conditions (150 mM NaCl), with increased shoot length (by 1.3-2.2 times) and root length (by 1.5-2.5 times). We determined the transcript levels of 20 abiotic stress-responsive genes in B5 (the most salt-tolerant mutant) and its original accession. These genes included those encoding heat shock proteins, aquaporins, ROS scavenging system, and transcription factors. In the B5 mutant, 15 genes showed differences in transcript levels between the control and the salt treatment. Salt treatment resulted in significant up-regulation of Sb03g045840 and down-regulation of Sb3g030750 in the B5 mutant. Here, we reported a simple method to identify genes related to salt tolerance in a sorghum mutant.

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• Alteration of gene expression profiles in the mutant line of Sorghum bicolor
  Sehyun Choi, Ji-Su Seo, Joon-Woo Ahn, Soon-Jae Kwon, Donghyun Jeon, Changsoo Kim
  Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology.2023; 26(5): 537.     CrossRef
• Deciphering the Genetic Mechanisms of Salt Tolerance in Sorghum bicolor L.: Key Genes and SNP Associations from Comparative Transcriptomic Analyses
  Donghyun Jeon, Jin-Baek Kim, Beum-Chang Kang, Changsoo Kim
  Plants.2023; 12(14): 2639.     CrossRef

Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is one of the most important crops for bioethanol production and the provision of antioxidant compounds for human health. In this study, we investigated the 8 agronomic traits of 153 sweet sorghum germplasms, which demonstrated a variety of phenotypes. In particular, nine sweet sorghum germplasms exhibited a sugar content exceeding 20 Brix. Based on agronomic characteristics, we selected eight elite sweet sorghum germplasms that showed high-performance agronomic and growth characteristics such as tall height, large panicle size with short height, high sugar content, and seed-specific characteristics. The selected germplasms also showed significant differential amount of 3 antioxidant compounds of 3-deoxyanthocyanins, flavonoids, and tannins. SS113 contained the highest levels of total 3-deoxyanthocyanins with apigeninidin contents 3–9 fold higher than that of other germplasms, while SS129 had a white seed coat with the highest recorded total flavonoid level (7.52 mg/g) but no detectable 3-deoxyanthocyanins compounds. The characterization of the traits and compounds will be useful for basic research into the selection of suitable cultivars in the breeding of sweet sorghum.

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• Grain yield, nutritional, polyphenols and antioxidant capacity in accessions of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)
  Silvia UÑATE-FRAGA, Josué I. GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, Antonio FLORES-NAVEDA, Norma RUIZ-TORRES, Sonia RAMÍREZ-BARRÓN, Agustín HERNÁNDEZ-JUÁREZ, Alejandro LOZANO-DEL RÍO, Julio C. TAFOLLA-ARELLANO
  Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca.2022; 50(1): 12637.     CrossRef
• Comparison of Salinity Tolerance Between Grain and Sweet Sorghum Germplasms [Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench]
  Jung Min Kim, Jae Il Lyu, Jaihyunk Ryu, Dong-Gun Kim, Min-Kyu Lee, Jin-Baek Kim, Bo-Keun Ha, Joon-Woo Ahn, Soon-Jae Kwon
  Korean Journal of Breeding Science.2020; 52(1): 32.     CrossRef

Sorghum is a major staple crop and vital for the marginal farmers in Asian and African countries. Landraces or germplasm lines adapted to biotic and abiotic stresses are the prime source of adaptive traits in the crop breeding programs. In order to assess the genetic variability, 141 exotic germplasm lines and 36 popular varieties were evaluated for eight agro-morphological traits. Wide range of values were observed for grain yield (6.6–124.4 g/plant), seed index (1.5–7.1 g/100 seeds), panicle length (8–44 cm) and panicle width (7.25 cm). High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for grain yield per plant. The values of broad sense heritability in the sorghum core population ranged from 0.75 to 0.99. Seed weight, days to flowering, panicle width and leaf area were significantly correlated with grain yield (P ≤ 0.01). Seed weight was positively correlated with panicle width (correlation coefficient 0.31), while negatively correlated with panicle length (correlation coefficient −0.15). Cluster analysis resolved all the genotypes into four major clusters. Among germplasm lines, TSG-313 had high seed weight of 7.05 g/100 seeds, while TSG-325 had highest grain yield of 124.4 g/plant as against control variety. Germplasm lines with high heritability scores would help us to utilise them in recombination breeding.

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• Post-flowering drought stress response of advanced breeding lines and cultivars in post-rainy season sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.)] Moench
  S.K. Pooja, Basavaraj Bagewadi, D.P. Biradar, I.S. Katageri, Rakeshkumar S. Choudhary, B. Fakrudin
  South African Journal of Botany.2025; 178: 266.     CrossRef
• Genetic variability assessment of post‐flowering drought stress tolerance in selected sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) genotypes
  Yirgalem Tsehaye, Fetien Abay, Taye Tadesse, Kassahun Bantte, Temesgen M. Menamo
  Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef