Genetic Characterization of Sorghum Biomass Yield Components over Time Using Field-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping Technology.

Advances in genotyping technology and reductions in cost have unravel the need to invest on high-throughput phenotyping technologies to be able to perform gene discovery tests at large scale. Additional advantages of high-throughput phenotyping technologies include the opportunity to obtain data that could not be collected by hand as well as improvements in accuracy and repeatability.

Most automated phenotyping systems available today were developed for laboratory or greenhouse settings. We have created a novel field-based high-throughput phenotyping technology that collects high resolution digital images over the entire season to characterize 700 diverse sorghum lines for plant architecture parameters. Those parameters are extracted from image analysis performed using appropriate algorithms and will subsequently be utilized to discover genes responsible for the observed phenotypic variation.

Plant architecture data (plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf angle, leaf area index, etc.) collected over the entire growing season will provide novel information about the dynamic changes in biomass production, growth rate and responses to variable environmental conditions during the season. This information will be used in a genome-wide association study to identify markers/genes responsible for variation in these phenotypes and will contribute significantly to the genetic improvement of sorghum as a biofuel crop.