DuPont Pioneer develops inducer lines for doubled haploid sorghum

A three-year research collaboration effort between the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and DuPont Pioneer has yielded a major new tool for sorghum improvement.

DuPont Pioneer research scientists, led by Cleve Franks and Tanveer Hussain, discovered two sorghum haploid inducer lines. The first of its kind, these patent-pending inducer lines enable the creation of doubled haploid sorghum, which is the first step to significantly accelerating the sorghum breeding process.

“The development of doubled haploid sorghum capabilities represents a major leap forward in sorghum breeding technology,” United Sorghum Checkoff Program CEO Tim Lust said. “This technology provides sorghum breeders with a powerful means of developing higher-yielding sorghum hybrids with the technology our growers need, both in the United States and abroad.”

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program funded the Pioneer research as part of a three-year, $800,220 investment. The research, conducted in Texas, Kansas, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Iowa, leveraged the world-class, global breeding programs of Pioneer.

“The inducer lines discovered by Pioneer will give sorghum breeders the opportunity to create finished inbred parents in a single step,” said Franks, sorghum research scientist, DuPont Pioneer. “This could accelerate the breeding process by potentially cutting the time required to create new hybrids in half.”

The results and developments from the collaboration will be available for out licensing. As one of the top five cereal crops in the world, sorghum can be grown as a grain, forage or sweet crop. The United States is the world's largest producer of grain sorghum, having produced 597 million bushels in 2015. The United Sorghum Checkoff Program partners with both public and private sorghum breeding entities.

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) is a producer-funded organization that is dedicated to improving the sorghum industry through research, promotion and education. For more information about the USCP and other research projects, please visit www.sorghumcheckoff.com.