title: A Sorghum Mutant Resource as an Efficient Platform for Gene Discovery in Grasses.
abstract: Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a versatile C4 crop and a model for research in family Poaceae. High-quality genome sequence is available for the elite inbred line BTx623, but functional validation of genes remains challenging due to the limited genomic and germplasm resources available for comprehensive analysis of induced mutations. In this study, we generated 6400 pedigreed M4 mutant pools from EMS-mutagenized BTx623 seeds through single-seed descent. Whole-genome sequencing of 256 phenotyped mutant lines revealed >1.8 million canonical EMS-induced mutations, affecting >95% of genes in the sorghum genome. The vast majority (97.5%) of the induced mutations were distinct from natural variations. To demonstrate the utility of the sequenced sorghum mutant resource, we performed reverse genetics to identify eight genes potentially affecting drought tolerance, three of which had allelic mutations and two of which exhibited exact cosegregation with the phenotype of interest. Our results establish that a large-scale resource of sequenced pedigreed mutants provides an efficient platform for functional validation of genes in sorghum, thereby accelerating sorghum breeding. Moreover, findings made in sorghum could be readily translated to other members of the Poaceae via integrated genomics approaches.
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724.
authors.forename: Yinping
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6016-9639
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415.
authors.forename: Ratan
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2088-3341
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2393-6429
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burow
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415.
authors.forename: Junping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415.
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Emendack
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724 U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, NEA Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 ware@cshl.edu zhanguo.xin@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Doreen
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8125-3821
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ware
authors.affiliation: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Unit, Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, Texas 79415 ware@cshl.edu zhanguo.xin@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Zhanguo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1471-7785
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xin
mesh_terms: D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006109:Poaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D045868:Sorghum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology