Sorghum responds to drought through a coordinated, time-dependent shift from early physiological stress and metabolic suppression to later activation of antioxidant defenses, hormone signaling, and carbohydrate remobilization pathways that enhance survival under prolonged water deficit.
SbMT4 functions as a zinc-specific metallothionein whose conserved histidine residues are essential for selective Zn binding, proper protein folding, and limiting cadmium incorporation, although altering these residues does not significantly change whole-plant metal accumulation, when expressed ectopically.
Integrated transcriptomic–biochemical network analysis of developing sorghum grain identified interconnected regulatory modules for protein and starch biosynthesis, highlighting SbPBF1a, SbPBF1b, and SbNF-YC13 as candidate central transcriptional regulators and revealing structural genes potentially underlying low protein digestibility.
Field evaluation of a large sorghum diversity panel revealed heritable, environmentally responsive variation in NPQ capacity and kinetics, and integrative genomic analyses identified polygenic candidate loci—many linked to redox regulation, stress signaling, and photosynthetic control—that provide targets for improving photoprotection and photosynthetic efficiency in C4 crops.
Reproductive cold tolerance in sorghum is primarily associated with tight abscisic acid homeostasis—rather than gibberellin limitation or jasmonate induction—and appears to affect yield through mechanisms beyond pollen fertility, likely involving female reproductive processes.
Conserved gene regulatory networks underpin nitrogen metabolism across plants, with dynamic and species-specific rewiring in maize and sorghum during rapid nitrogen deprivation and recovery, revealing key transcriptional regulators that shape nitrogen use efficiency and sustainable crop productivity.
SbMSBP1 is an ER-localized MAPR protein in sorghum that binds heme, undergoes heme-dependent dimerization, and promotes membrane remodeling, suggesting roles in vesicle trafficking, cytochrome P450 stabilization, and stress-adaptive specialized metabolism.
Genetic modeling and high-density QTL mapping reveal that sorghum plant height and brix content are governed by interacting major genes and polygenes, share co-localized loci that explain their phenotypic correlation, and are influenced by auxin- and carbon-fixation–related candidate genes that offer targets for breeding improved varieties.
Targeted knockdown of SbLG1 and SbLG2 in sorghum reduces leaf angle to enhance light distribution, photosynthetic efficiency, and biomass yield without increasing water use, advancing the development of a ‘smart canopy’ architecture.
