Sorghum Erect Leaf Mutants.

Erect leaf trait is a main factor driving the continuous yield increases in maize hybrids released since the beginning of the Green Revolution. Like maize, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) has the highly efficient C4 photosynthesis pathway. However, sorghum grain and biomass yield are much behind maize except under severe water or high temperature stress conditions. Unlike the modern maize hybrids, most sorghum hybrids have flat or droopy leaves due to the lack of breeding lines with this feature. We have isolated several erect leaf mutants from the Annotated Individually-pedigreed Mutated of Sorghum (AIMS) library. These mutants may serve as critical materials to improve sorghum grain and biomass yield.