Grain Sorghum (grain + sorghum)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Elevated atmospheric CO2 effects on biomass production and soil carbon in conventional and conservation cropping systems

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
Stephen A. Prior
Abstract Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration has led to concerns about potential effects on production agriculture as well as agriculture's role in sequestering C. In the fall of 1997, a study was initiated to compare the response of two crop management systems (conventional and conservation) to elevated CO2. The study used a split-plot design replicated three times with two management systems as main plots and two CO2 levels (ambient=375 ,L L,1 and elevated CO2=683 ,L L,1) as split-plots using open-top chambers on a Decatur silt loam (clayey, kaolinitic, thermic Rhodic Paleudults). The conventional system was a grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation with winter fallow and spring tillage practices. In the conservation system, sorghum and soybean were rotated and three cover crops were used (crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)) under no-tillage practices. The effect of management on soil C and biomass responses over two cropping cycles (4 years) were evaluated. In the conservation system, cover crop residue (clover, sunn hemp, and wheat) was increased by elevated CO2, but CO2 effects on weed residue were variable in the conventional system. Elevated CO2 had a greater effect on increasing soybean residue as compared with sorghum, and grain yield increases were greater for soybean followed by wheat and sorghum. Differences in sorghum and soybean residue production within the different management systems were small and variable. Cumulative residue inputs were increased by elevated CO2 and conservation management. Greater inputs resulted in a substantial increase in soil C concentration at the 0,5 cm depth increment in the conservation system under CO2 -enriched conditions. Smaller shifts in soil C were noted at greater depths (5,10 and 15,30 cm) because of management or CO2 level. Results suggest that with conservation management in an elevated CO2 environment, greater residue amounts could increase soil C storage as well as increase ground cover. [source]


The content and distribution of condensed tannins in different species of the genus sorghum (Sorghum Moench) and their effect on seed protein electrophoresis,

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 9 2009
Min-Xuan Liu
Abstract BACKGROUND: The interaction between condensed tannins (CTs) and seed protein in varieties of sorghum interferes with protein extraction and the separation by electrophoresis, so electrophoresis can not be used widely for determining seed purity and identifying a variety. The objective of this research was to classify the effect of CTs on the extraction of seed storage proteins and on their analysis by SDS,PAGE, and to search for a promising solution to reduce the negative effect of CTs in sorghum. RESULTS: The vanillin,HCl test confirmed that CTs were localised mainly in the glumes of grain sorghum, but distributed in every fraction of sudangrass. Samples with high CT content did not produce any bands in the gel after electrophoresis. Removal of the glumes and pericarp/testa prevented the influence of CTs on electrophoresis for grain sorghum but had little effect for sudangrass. Adding tannin/catechin to the protein extraction of sorghum kernel decreased the number of bands in the gel. Adding polyvinylpyrrolidine to the protein extraction of sudangrass increased the bands. CONCLUSION: Tannin,protein interactions are responsible for the absence of bands in varieties with high CT content. For grain sorghum, decortication can prevent the influence. Adding polyvinylpyrrolidine during the extraction of seed protein could solve the problem of tannin,protein interactions for varieties of sudangrass. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Stay green trait in grain sorghum: relationship between visual rating and leaf chlorophyll concentration

PLANT BREEDING, Issue 4 2000
W. Xu
Abstract Post-flowering drought tolerance is referred to as the stay green trait in sorghum. Plants with stay green resist drought-induced premature plant senescence. In breeding programmes, stay green is evaluated under limited irrigation, post-flowering moisture-stress field conditions and visually scored at or soon after physiological grain maturity. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the stay green rating and total leaf chlorophyll content. The parents B35 and Tx7000, and their 98 F, recombinant inbred lines were evaluated in replicated field trials under limited (post-flowering stress) and full-irrigation (non-stress) conditions. After scoring the stay green trait of stressed plants, total leaf chlorophyll contents were measured with a chlorophyll meter (SPAD values) and a spectrophotometer method. The SPAD value had a significant linear relationship with total leaf chlorophyll (R2= 0.91) and with visual stay green rating (with R2= 0.82). Relative water content in top leaves of the stay green lines was about 81%, much higher than non-stay green lines (38%), indicating that the stay green lines kept the stalk transporting system functioning under severe drought conditions, The results indicate that visual stay green ratings were a reliable indicator of leaf senescence an should be useful to sorghum breeders in evaluating progeny when breeding for drought tolerance. [source]


DNA sequence variation in the ITS-1 rDNA subunit and host relationships in sorghum midge, Stenodiplosis sorghicola (Coquillett) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), in Australia

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
Bradley C Congdon
Abstract Sequence variation in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) ribosomal DNA subunit was examined for sorghum midge obtained from introduced and native hosts in south-eastern and central Queensland. No variation was observed relative to host plant or geographical distance for midges collected from two introduced hosts, grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and Johnson grass (S. halepense); however, sequence differences were observed between midges from introduced and native hosts and among midges from a single native host, slender bluegrass (Dichanthium affine). No evidence was observed of introduced midges on native hosts, or vice versa. These results agree with previously hypothesised host distributions for native and introduced midges in Australia, and expand the sample of introduced hosts to include Johnson grass. They suggest that Stenodiplosis sorghicola, the principal midge infesting grain sorghum, is also the most common species on Johnson grass. This confirms that Johnson grass plays a role in the population dynamics of S. sorghicola and suggests that midges originating from Johnson grass may influence levels of infestation in grain sorghum. [source]