Chunxin Cao^1,3* , Nuan Wang^2* , Yubing Liu^1,3 , Hongming Huang² , Meijuan Wu² , Xinhua Liu^1,3

1 Jinhua Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinhua, 321000, Zhejiang, China
2 Lanxi Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Lanxi, 321100, Zhejiang, China
3 Key Laboratory for Innovative Utilization of Characteristic Food Crop Resources in Central Zhejiang, Jinhua, 321000, Zhejiang, China
* These authors contributed equally to this work
Author    Correspondence author
Plant Gene and Trait, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 6   
Received: 30 Oct., 2024    Accepted: 02 Dec., 2024    Published: 10 Dec., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world, especially showing excellent resistance to adverse conditions such as drought and salinity, and has multiple uses. This study discusses the current status of global collections of sorghum germplasm resources, focusing on the main germplasm banks and their role in genetic diversity conservation. The phenotypic and genomic evaluation methods of sorghum germplasm were analyzed, and the application of these evaluations in breeding was demonstrated through specific cases. The discovery of sorghum drought resistance genes and their application in breeding were elaborated in detail, especially the accelerated development of stress-resistant varieties through gene editing technology. This study also looks forward to the impact of global climate change on the utilization of sorghum germplasm resources, and puts forward suggestions for strengthening international cooperation and using new technologies to meet the challenges in future agricultural production.

Sorghum; Germplasm resources; Phenotypic evaluation; Genomics; Breeding for drought resistance