Characterization of drought tolerance related mechanistic traits in sorghum related to water transport

Sorghum is a drought tolerant cereal crop, grown extensively by smallholder farmers in West Africa.

It is expected to become increasingly important to crop production in the Sahel, and grow as part of Europe’s grain portfolio as incidences of drought become more frequent.

Identifying drought tolerant varieties and what traits confer drought tolerance in sorghum is of great importance to food security both in the Sahel and across the world.

The SorghEau project will investigate drought tolerance in sorghum, to uncover the mechanistic basis for this trait, the role of adaptive plasticity in the drought response, and the genetic control of traits relating to drought tolerance.

The main focus of this will be investigating vascular anatomy, particularly the metaxylem and its effect on physiology and water use.

Using diversity populations in West Africa and Europe will capture data on the vast majority of global genetic diversity, as well as highly agronomically relevant elite lines.

This will facilitate gene discovery, and by investigating a highly drought tolerant crop with a known diversity for this feature, we expect significant findings.

I will use this data to identify a vascular trait with a role in drought tolerance, and select lines of interest and parental candidates for mapping populations contrasting in this trait.

I will investigate plasticity through controlled drought experiments to characterize the role of vascular traits in the drought response.

I will then use this data to identify a candidate trait, and conduct genetic analysis to identify associated QTLs, and use gene expression analysis to uncover the molecular mechanism for regulation of this trait.

This work will develop my skills in conducting field trials, anatomical analysis, and plant physiological phenotyping, and I will learn new skills in synchrotron scanning, transpiration phenotyping and lysimetry, gene expression and genetic analysis.