Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is a prospective bioethanol feedstock source. Four high‐biomass and sweet sorghum male lines and three grain sorghum female lines were intercrossed using Design II mating. Parents and hybrids were evaluated to (a) identify genetic sources to improve biofuel traits, and (b) determine the inheritance of biofuel and morpho‐agronomic traits. Total soluble sugars (TSS) per plant were determined using juice weight (JW) and Brix (°Bx). Plant height (PH), biomass (BM) and stalk diameter (SD) were also measured. Mean hybrid performance for PH, JW, TSS and BM was higher than the male parent means. Three male parents exhibited positive and significant general combining ability (GCA) for at least three traits. Among males, PI185672 showed the highest GCA for PH, °Bx and BM, while No. 08 exhibited the greatest GCA for JW and TSS. Most hybrids exhibited overdominance‐driven high‐parent heterosis for all traits except SD. Trait broad‐sense heritability ranged from 0.71 (BM) to 0.93 (PH). Results revealed that biofuel traits could be substantially improved through breeding, which will contribute to enhanced bioethanol production.

中文翻译：

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改良甜高粱以增强汁液性状和生物量

甜高粱（Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench）是一种潜在的生物乙醇原料。使用设计II交配将4个高生物量和甜高粱雄性品系和3个籽粒高粱雌性品系杂交。对亲本和杂种进行了评估，以（a）鉴定遗传资源以改善生物燃料性状，（b）确定生物燃料的遗传和形态农艺性状。使用汁液重量（JW）和白利糖度（°Bx）确定每株植物的总可溶性糖（TSS）。株高（PH），生物量（BM）和茎杆直径（SD）也进行了测量。PH，JW，TSS和BM的平均杂种表现高于雄性母本。三名男性父母对至少三个性状表现出积极和显着的综合能力（GCA）。在男性中，PI185672的PH，°Bx和BM的GCA最高，而08号的JW和TSS的GCA最高。除SD外，大多数杂种对所有性状均表现出主导优势的高亲本杂种优势。性状的广义遗传力范围为0.71（BM）至0.93（PH）。结果表明，通过育种可以大大改善生物燃料的性状，这将有助于提高生物乙醇的产量。