The Hindu Business Line : Sorghum genome unveiled

Hyderabad, Feb. 2 Scientists have unravelled the sorghum genome, opening up windows to learn more about the food crop that is more drought resistant than other cereals.

Identification of relevant genes that are responsible for specific attributes such as drought resistance would go a long way in improving not just sorghum crops but also in other cereal crops.

A team of scientists, led by Prof. Andrew Paterson of the University of Georgia (the US), also included Dr C. Tom Hash, a Cereal Breaer with ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), published an article in ‘Nature’.

With this, sorghum has become the second crop in the grass family after rice. “This move will strengthen the Institute’s research for the improvement of sorghum and other food crops,” Dr William Dar, Director-General of ICRISAT, said here, announcing the breakthrough results of the joint study.“The sequence of sorghum genome will provide us a better understanding on genes that make sorghum, as compared to other cereals, more drought tolerant,” he said. This would lead to development of improved sorghum varieties and hybrids of desirable traits, including improved drought and disease resistance.

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