Genomics of Sorghum, a Semi-Arid Cereal and Emerging Model for Tropical Grass Genomics

Abstract

Sorghum, an important failsafe crop in the global agroecosystem, is also emerging as a model for tropical grasses based on its small and well-characterized genome, low level of gene duplication, and close relationship to the larger and more complex genomes of maize and sugarcane. A whole-genome shotgun sequence of the sorghum genome is complete and being annotated. The sorghum sequence, together with the attributes of sorghum as a prospective functional genomics and association genetics system, has many implications for better understanding the structure, function, and evolution of cereal genomes. In addition, the sequence will raise to a new level the opportunities to engage genomics in the improvement of human livelihood in arid and semi-arid tropical regions in which sorghum is a staple. Already established as a seed-based ethanol crop, progress in understanding the genetic control of perenniality in sorghum makes it also promising as a cellulosic biofuels crop.