U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Wheat, Sorghum and Forage Research: Lincoln, NE
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Plains Area Lincoln, Nebraska Wheat, Sorghum and Forage Research Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            Sattler, Scottitem
                                            SABALLOS, ANA - University Of Floridaitem
                                            Xin, Zhanguoitem
                                            Funnell-Harris, Deannaitem
                                            VERMERRIS, WILFRED - University Of Floridaitem
                                            Pedersen, Jeffrey
  Submitted to: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 8/22/2014
                                    Publication  Date: 11/1/2014
                                    Publication URL: http://www.g3journal.org/content/4/11/2115.full.pdf+htmlCitation: Sattler, S.E., Saballos, A., Xin, Z., Funnell-Harris, D.L., Vermerris, W., Pedersen, J.F. 2014. Characterization of novel sorghum brown midrib mutants from an EMS-mutagenized population. Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 4:  2115-2124. DOI:  10.1534/g3.114.014001.Interpretive Summary: In the US, sorghum biomass (stalks and leaves) serves as an important forage crop for livestock.  In addition, sorghum is being developed as a bioenergy crop for cellulosic biofuels.  Cellulosic biofuels are derived from the breakdown of the cell wall components (cellulose and hemicellulose) of the biomass to sugars and the conversions of these sugars to fuel molecules.  A third cell wall component, lignin, makes cell walls resistant to breakdown into sugars.  In sorghum, brown midrib (bmr) mutants are a class of mutants, known to reduce lignin content in plant cell walls. These mutants have been used to develop plant varieties with reduced lignin, which have led to improved bioenergy conversion and increased livestock digestibility. In this study, we identified six new bmr mutants, which are different from the previously identified bmr mutants.  We characterized the effects these new mutants had on lignin content and the ability to digest cell walls into sugars. These mutants provide scientists with new tools to improve sorghum biomass for bioenergy and forage, and will potentially aid the identification of genes controlling lignin synthesis in sorghum and other bioenergy grasses.
                                Technical Abstract: Reducing lignin concentration in lignocellulosic biomass can increase forage digestibility for ruminant livestock and saccharification yields of biomass for bioenergy.  In sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and several other C4 grasses, brown midrib (bmr) mutants have been shown to reduce lignin concentration.  Forty-six putative bmr mutants isolated from an EMS-mutagenized population were characterized and classified based upon their midrib leaf phenotype and allelism tests with the previously described sorghum bmr loci bmr2, bmr6 and bmr12.  These tests resulted in the identification of additional alleles of bmr2, bmr6 and bmr12, and in addition, six bmr mutants were identified that were not allelic to these previously described loci. Further allelism testing amongst these six bmr mutants showed that they represented four previously undescribed bmr loci. Based on this study the number of bmr loci uncovered in sorghum has doubled.  The impact of these lines on agronomic traits and lignocellulosic composition was assessed in a two-year field study.  Overall, most of the identified bmr lines showed reduced lignin concentration of their biomass relative to wild-type.  Effects of the six new bmr mutants on enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic materials were determined, but the amount of glucose released from the stover was similar to WT in all cases. These mutants may affect monolignol biosynthesis, similar to bmr2, bmr6 and bmr12, and through stacking these mutants together or in combination with the three previously described loci may be useful for bioenergy and forage improvement.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov