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Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) is fifth among the major cereal crops in the world in terms of production area and total production. Grain sorghum can be successfully produced in a wide range of environments, its productivity is severely limited by pathogens, insects and abiotic stresses. One of these pathogens is Claviceps africana Frederickson Mantle & de Milliano, commonly known as ergot. As is the case with many sorghum diseases, the best long term approach to control ergot may be the use of genetic resistance. There is limited information about resistance to C. africana in sorghum, and the reported resistance in most lines is fertility-based. Dahlberg (1999) first reported the line IS8525 to have the most tolerance to ergot of any of the accessions screened in Puerto Rico. The specific objectives of this research are: (1)...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L] Moench) was first introduced to the United States in the 1800s. These introductions consisted of tropical varieties with a short day photoperiod response that limited their use in temperate hybrid breeding programs. Commercial exploitation of F1 hybrids in grain sorghum started by the mid 1950s with the use of cytoplasmic male sterility system CMS (A1). Even though other CMS are available, most sorghum hybrid seed production still relies on the A1 system. Genetic gain in most agronomic crop species is limited by several factors. In the specific case of sorghum, the uniform use of the CMS (A1) system and the recent introduction of sorghum to the United States have resulted in a reduction of its genetic base. In order to create enough genetic variability, plant breeders might utilize exotic non adapted materi...