Genetic diversity, population structure, and a genome-wide association study of sorghum lines assembled for breeding in Uganda.

Kasule F, Alladassi BME, Aru CJ, Adikini S, Biruma M, Ugen MA, Kakeeto R, Esuma W

Published: 17 September 2024 in Frontiers in plant science
Keywords: DArT-seq, GWAS, SNPs, genetic variation, linkage disequilibrium, sorghum
Pubmed ID: 39435028
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1458179

Sorghum is an important source of food and feed worldwide. Developing sorghum core germplasm collections improves our understanding of the evolution and exploitation of genetic diversity in breeding programs. Despite its significance, the characterization of the genetic diversity of local germplasm pools and the identification of genomic loci underlying the variation of critical agronomic traits in sorghum remains limited in most African countries, including Uganda. In this study, we evaluated a collection of 543 sorghum accessions actively used in Ugandan breeding program across two cropping seasons at NaSARRI, Uganda, under natural field conditions. Phenotypic data analysis revealed significant (p