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Review
. 2017 Jun 8:10:146.
doi: 10.1186/s13068-017-0834-9. eCollection 2017.

Sweet sorghum as biofuel feedstock: recent advances and available resources

Supriya Mathur  1 , A V Umakanth  2 , V A Tonapi  2 , Rita Sharma  3 , Manoj K Sharma  1
Affiliations
Review

Sweet sorghum as biofuel feedstock: recent advances and available resources

Supriya Mathur et al. Biotechnol Biofuels. .

Abstract

Sweet sorghum is a promising target for biofuel production. It is a C4 crop with low input requirements and accumulates high levels of sugars in its stalks. However, large-scale planting on marginal lands would require improved varieties with optimized biofuel-related traits and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Considering this, many studies have been carried out to generate genetic and genomic resources for sweet sorghum. In this review, we discuss various attributes of sweet sorghum that make it an ideal candidate for biofuel feedstock, and provide an overview of genetic diversity, tools, and resources available for engineering and/or marker-assisting breeding of sweet sorghum. Finally, the progress made so far, in identification of genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) important for agronomic traits and ongoing molecular breeding efforts to generate improved varieties, has been discussed.

Keywords: Biofuel; Feedstock; Genomics; Grass genetics; Sorghum; Sorghum breeding.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sweet sorghum as a multipurpose crop. The various uses of sweet sorghum juice, grains, and other byproducts have been illustrated
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Growth phases and stages during sorghum life cycle. The key developmental stages and growth phases during sorghum life cycle have been illustrated
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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