Sweet sorghum: The solution to food security in climate change?

Sweet sorghum: The solution to food security in climate change?

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have made groundbreaking progress in the field of sorghum, a crop known for its robustness and adaptability to difficult growing conditions. These developments could make a crucial contribution to strengthening global food security. Sorghum, an ancient crop from Sudan, is of particular interest for future agriculture due to its ability to produce more sugar in saline soils. The team, led by Professor Peter Nick, has been studying various aspects of this plant for several years and has now identified the SWEET13 gene switch, which is crucial for the transport of sugar into the grains.

Examination of sugar production in salt tolerance studies has shown that certain varieties of sorghum, particularly the salt-tolerant Della and the salt-sensitive Razinieh, exhibit significant differences in sugar accumulation. The study results, published in the specialist journal Scientific Reports, show that Della has significantly higher sugar production than Razinieh under saline conditions.

Studies on salt tolerance

This research is particularly relevant given the growing challenges facing agriculture due to climate change, heat and increasing soil salinity. The increase in world population necessitates the need to increase the productivity of crops, especially cereals. The working group also found that sugar-rich varieties of sorghum, known as sugar sorghum, are efficient at photosynthesis and can produce large amounts of biomass.

In the experiments evaluating the salt tolerance of Della and Razinieh, it was found that Della was able to show not only a greater increase in sugar content, but also a more efficient distribution of sugar in the sink tissues. Under sowing stress, Della showed better retention of potassium and more effective exclusion of sodium, while Razinieh accumulated more sodium in the grains under stressful conditions.This not only highlights the genetic differences between the varieties, but also the potential application-oriented breeding with SWEET13, which can be further supported by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Future applications and research

The works of Dr. Adnan Kanbar and his team, who have developed a new sugar sorghum variety suitable for the production of biogas, biofuels and new polymers, illustrate the practical applications of this research. These developments are promising, especially for regions such as the Nile Delta, Bangladesh or southern Italy, which are increasingly suffering from soil salinization.

The research team plans to further expand knowledge of gene expression and the underlying mechanisms of sugar transport in order to optimize the breeding process. A particularly active version of SWEET13 was identified in the Syrian sorghum variety Razinieh, suggesting that the genetic resources in the region offer high potential for future breeding programs.

In summary, the findings from this research could not only help improve food security in areas affected by soil salinity, but also deepen the understanding of how plants respond to abiotic stresses. The interdisciplinary collaboration between the various institutions, including the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and international partners from Egypt, Syria and the USA, illustrates the global importance of this research.