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Research ArticleResearch Article
Open Access

Sterile Spikelets Contribute to Yield in Sorghum and Related Grasses

Taylor AuBuchon-Elder, Viktoriya Coneva, David M. Goad, Lauren M. Jenkins, Yunqing Yu, Doug K. Allen, Elizabeth A. Kellogg
Taylor AuBuchon-Elder
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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Viktoriya Coneva
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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David M. Goad
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
bDepartment of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130
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Lauren M. Jenkins
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
cU.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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Yunqing Yu
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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Doug K. Allen
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
cU.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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  • For correspondence: doug.allen@ars.usda.gov ekellogg@danforthcenter.org
Elizabeth A. Kellogg
aDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63132
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  • For correspondence: doug.allen@ars.usda.gov ekellogg@danforthcenter.org

Published November 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00424

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  • © 2020 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and its relatives in the grass tribe Andropogoneae bear their flowers in pairs of spikelets in which one spikelet (seed-bearing or sessile spikelet [SS]) of the pair produces a seed and the other is sterile or male (staminate). This division of function does not occur in other major cereals such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) or rice (Oryza sativa). Additionally, one bract of the SS spikelet often produces a long extension, the awn, that is in the same position as, but independently derived from, that of wheat and rice. The function of the sterile spikelet is unknown and that of the awn has not been tested in Andropogoneae. We used radioactive and stable isotopes of carbon, RNA sequencing of metabolically important enzymes, and immunolocalization of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) to show that the sterile spikelet assimilates carbon, which is translocated to the largely heterotrophic SS. The awn shows no evidence of photosynthesis. These results apply to distantly related species of Andropogoneae. Removal of sterile spikelets in sorghum significantly decreases seed weight (yield) by ∼9%. Thus, the sterile spikelet, but not the awn, affects yield in the cultivated species and fitness in the wild species.

  • Received June 1, 2020.
  • Revised August 5, 2020.
  • Accepted August 26, 2020.
  • Published September 1, 2020.

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Sterile Spikelets Contribute to Yield in Sorghum and Related Grasses
Taylor AuBuchon-Elder, Viktoriya Coneva, David M. Goad, Lauren M. Jenkins, Yunqing Yu, Doug K. Allen, Elizabeth A. Kellogg
The Plant Cell Nov 2020, 32 (11) 3500-3518; DOI: 10.1105/tpc.20.00424

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Sterile Spikelets Contribute to Yield in Sorghum and Related Grasses
Taylor AuBuchon-Elder, Viktoriya Coneva, David M. Goad, Lauren M. Jenkins, Yunqing Yu, Doug K. Allen, Elizabeth A. Kellogg
The Plant Cell Nov 2020, 32 (11) 3500-3518; DOI: 10.1105/tpc.20.00424
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Extras

  • First author profile: Taylor AuBuchon-Elder
  • First author profile: Viktoriya Coneva

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The Plant Cell: 32 (11)
The Plant Cell
Vol. 32, Issue 11
Nov 2020
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