Genetic diversity for starch quality and alkali spreading value in sorghum

Sorghum is an important food crop in many parts of Africa and Asia. Landraces of sorghum are known to exhibit variation in food quality traits including starch and protein content and composition. In this study, a panel of diverse sorghum breeding lines and 788 sorghum conversion (SC) lines representing the global germplasm diversity of the crop were evaluated for variation in starch quality based on alkali spreading value (ASV). A small number of genotypes with stable expression of the ASV+ phenotype across seasons were identified; mostly representing Nandyal types from India. Genetic studies showed the ASV+ phenotype was inherited as a recessive trait. Whole genome resequencing of ASV+ donor lines revealed SNPs in genes involved in starch biosynthesis. A genome wide association study (GWAS) identified a significant SNP associated with ASV near Sobic.010G273800, a starch branching enzyme I precursor, and Sobic.010G274800 and Sobic.010G275001, both annotated as glucosyltransferases. Physiochemical analyses of accessions with contrasting ASV phenotypes demonstrated an environment dependent lower starch gelatinization temperature (GT), amylose content of approximately 22%, and good gel consistency. The starch quality attributes of these lines could be valuable in food products that require good gel consistency and viscosity.