Inheritance and allelism of brown midrib trait introgressed in agronomically promising backgrounds in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.)

Abstract

The lignin content of forage crops significantly affects the livestock’s forage intake and its dry matter digesti-bility. The brown midrib (bmr) trait is known for its association with a reduced lignin content and increased digestibility. Pearl millet inbreds having the bmr trait were derived from two populations ICMV bmr and WRajPop bmr via continu-ed selfing up to 6–8 generations. The results from the crosses revealed the presence of the same single recessive gene that controlled the bmr in both the populations. The stable expression of the bmr gene in the new genetic background indicated that there was no effect of modifier genes. Four inbreds were identified with the stable expression of bmr (three in ICMV 155 and one in the WRajPop background) with a high biomass potential, which can serve as a bmr sour-ce in future pearl millet forage breeding programmes.