A Genome-Wide Association Study of Seed Morphology-Related Traits in Sorghum Mini-Core and Senegalese Lines
Ezekiel Ahn,
Sunchung Park,
Zhenbin Hu,
Vishnutej Ellur,
Minhyeok Cha,
Yoonjung Lee,
Louis K. Prom,
Clint Magill
Affiliations
Ezekiel Ahn
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Sunchung Park
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Zhenbin Hu
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
Vishnutej Ellur
Molecular Plant Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
Minhyeok Cha
Department of Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
Yoonjung Lee
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
Louis K. Prom
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center, College Station, TX 77845, USA
Clint Magill
Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) ranks fifth as the most crucial cereal crop globally, yet its seed morphology remains relatively unexplored. This study investigated seed morphology in sorghum based on 115 mini-core and 130 Senegalese germplasms. Eight seed morphology traits encompassing size, shape, and color parameters were assessed. Statistical analyses explored potential associations between these traits and resistance to three major sorghum diseases: anthracnose, head smut, and downy mildew. Furthermore, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted using phenotypic data from over 24,000 seeds and over 290,000 publicly available single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) through the Genome Association and Prediction Integrated Tool (GAPIT) R package. Significant SNPs associated with various seed morphology traits were identified and mapped onto the reference sorghum genome to identify novel candidate defense genes.
