Texas Scientists Discover Flowering Gene in Sorghum

Texas AgriLife Research scientists have discovered a gene that regulates sorghum flowering. "For energy crops, we want to prevent plants from flowering so they accumulate as much biomass as possible for bioenergy/biofuels production," said Dr. John Mullet, AgriLife Research biochemist. Mullet explained that the gene controls flowering in response to day length. It is regulated by the plant's 'clock' and light that enables the plant to flower at approximately the same date each growing season.

"Flowering time is important for sorghum no matter what type of sorghum is grown," said Rebecca Murphy, a biochemistry doctoral student at Texas A&M University. "In the case of bioenergy sorghum, you want to delay flowering because the more you delay flowering, the more biomass sorghum will accumulate."

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, will enable breeders to use "molecular markers to assist in the design of sorghum hybrids that flower at optimal times accelerating the process of breeding high-yielding grain, sweet and energy sorghum hybrids."

View the feature article at http://ebionews.com/news-center/research-frontiers/ag-bio-a-bio-agriculture/44553-gene-controlling-flowering-boosts-energy-production-from-sorghum.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TAMUinTheNews+%28TAMU+In+The+News%29