1. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Developing drought-adapted sorghum
germplasm for Africa and Australia
University of Queensland
Andrew Borrell & David Jordan
Queensland Government
B. George-Jaeggli & Simon Hamlet
IER, Mali
Sidi Coulibaly & Niaba Teme
INERA, Burkina Faso
Clarisse Barro-Kondombo
ARC, Sudan
Abdalla Mohamad
INRAN, Niger
Soumana Souley
EIAR, Ethiopia
Alemu Tirfessa & Asfaw Adugna
KARI, Kenya
Clement Kamau

2. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Outline
1. Introduction
2. Highlights from the past year
3. Tangible products created by our project
4. Anticipated impact of products on
downstream beneficiaries
5. How they will these products be
maintained and sustained?
6. Conclusions

3. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Crop productivity in water-limited environments is
regulated by:
Drought adaptation in cereals
The ‘stay-green’ trait affects all three
processes.
a) the extent of water capture by the crop (T),
b) the efficiency with which the crop
exchanges water for CO2 via transpiration in
producing biomass (TE), and
c) the fraction of the total biomass that ends up
in the grain (HI).

4. Working together with the
Queensland Government
What is stay-green and why
is it important?
There is a high frequency of post-flowering drought in cereal-growing areas
world-wide, including north-eastern Australia, central-western India, southern
USA and sub-Saharan Africa.
Delayed foliar senescence, known as stay-green, is a drought adaptation trait
that enhances crop productivity in the field when water is limiting after flowering.

5. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Higher yield
Increased water use during grain filling
Increased water availability at flowering
Increased water
accessibility
(roots)
Reduced water
use at flowering
Higher plant
water status
Increased
growth rate
Increased
TE
Delayed leaf
senescence
Smaller
plant size
‘Low tillering’
mechanism
‘Small leaf’
mechanism
Modified leaf
anatomy
Driving T
Driving TE
Driving HI
Emergent
consequences
Increased N
uptake
Increased
stem strength

6. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Our project aims to
a) develop drought-adapted
sorghum germplasm for Africa
and Australia, and
b) provide training in crop
improvement for scientists in
Africa.
Over the past year, our project has
expanded to six African
countries.
Highlights from the
past year

7. Working together with the
Queensland Government
African partners (Phase 2)

8. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Highlights from the past year:
Germplasm development
Stay-green enriched germplasm is
currently being evaluated in six
African countries (Mali, Burkina
Faso, Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia &
Kenya).
The germplasm will be phenotyped
for phenology, plant height,
tillering, stay-green, biomass, grain
yield, harvest index and various
grain quality parameters.

9. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Highlights from the past year:
Training
Training in Australia for visiting scientists from
Mali on sorghum crop improvement (Feb 2012).

10. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Highlights from the past year:
Training
African scientists from our GCP
project attended the review of a
related ACIAR project on stay-
green in Hyderabad (Feb 2013).

11. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Highlights from the past year:
Training
Training in Ethiopia as part of a
related BMGF project (April 2013).

12. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Highlights from the past year:
Visit to Kenya (Kiboko)

13. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Training in Australia:
February 2014
Four African sorghum breeders will be trained in Australia next February.
West Africa
• Clarisse Pulcherie Barro-Kondombo (Burkina Faso)
• Aissata Mamadou Ibrahim (Niger)
East Africa
• Mohamed Yousif (Sudan)
• Rachael Kamene Kisilu (Kenya)

14. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Genomics Simulation Modelling
Data management
Phenotypic data
Integrated
information that is
better able to
address complex
quantitative traits
Environmental
characterisation
Enhanced genetic gain
Training on linking breeding,
molecular & physiological aspects

15. Working together with the
Queensland Government
“What if” questions
• What type of environments are common in our region?
• What type of root architecture would work best in my current environments and management
systems?
• What combination of variation in root angle and row spacing would give the best yields on
average at a particular location? What happens if I plant earlier?
• What is the likely variation (risk) associated with growing the best combination?
Root angle varies in
sorghum germplasm
Trait Biology
G
E
M
Crop model
Historical weather
and soil data
Management options
Crop Simulation Modelling:
A Linking Technology

16. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Genome Resources: A Linking
Technology
Root angle varies in
sorghum germplasm
Trait Biology
Genome resources
(maps, markers, genes)
Breeding program
Genotypes and
phenotypic data
Questions we can answer
• Are the genes for root architecture segregating in my breeding program?
• Am I selecting for particular root architecture?
• Are there other sources of the trait I should look at?
• What impact does a particular gene for root architecture have in a specific environment?
• Does variation in these genes have different effects in early flowering compared to late flowering
genotypes?

17. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Product One
Title: Backcross-derived lines containing
stay-green introgressions.
Description: 15 backcross-derived
introgression lines (13 lines from
F2_R04021-2/PI609084 and 2 lines from
F2_R04003-2/PI585749).
Use: Diverse drought-adapted germplasm
for sorghum breeders to use in Mali, Niger,
Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.
Tangible products
generated by our project

18. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Product Two
Title: RIL populations segregating for
the stay-green trait.
Description: Four RIL populations
developed by crossing an elite
Australian stay-green female
(R931945-2-2) with four male Malian
lines (PI585749, PI585750, PI609084 &
PI609114) totalling 917 individuals.
Use: Mapping population for identifying
drought resistance QTLs. Source of
drought-adapted germplasm for African
sorghum breeders.
Tangible products
generated by our project

19. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Product Three
Title: F1 hybrids containing the stay-
green trait.
Description: Six F1 hybrids based on
two Malian males (PI585749 &
PI609278) crossed with three elite
female parent lines from Australia
(A1*9_B010054, A1*F_B963676 &
F2_ms3*3_R931945-2-2) that contrast
in the level of stay-green.
Use: Drought-adapted germplasm for
sorghum breeders to utilise.
Tangible products
generated by our project

20. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Impact of products on
downstream beneficiaries
Diverse drought-adapted
germplasm for sorghum breeders to
use in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso,
Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.
It is anticipated that useful varieties
will be developed with this
germplasm and made available to
small-holder farmers via the
appropriate delivery pipeline (this
will vary from country to country).

21. Working together with the
Queensland Government
How will these products be
maintained and sustained?
The diverse drought-adapted germplasm
developed in this project will be incorporated
into the various sorghum breeding programs
in the six targeted countries.
The germplasm will be maintained in the
seed-stores from each of the sorghum
breeding programs. Seed quality will be
sustained by increasing seed on a regular
basis.
Key drought-adapted lines arising from the
germplasm developed in this project could
also be stored in centralised high-quality seed
banks.

22. Working together with the
Queensland Government
Conclusions
Drought-adapted sorghum germplasm has
been developed for Africa and Australia.
It is currently being evaluated in six African
countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan,
Ethiopia and Kenya.
African sorghum breeders/physiologists from
these countries are undertaking training in
crop improvement, focusing on technologies
that link genetics, genomics, molecular biology
and crop physiology.
Drought-adapted germplasm will be
incorporated into the various African sorghum
breeding programs based on selection by
local breeders.

23. Working together with the
Queensland Government