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Genetic Analysis of Kafirins and Their Phenotypic Correlations with Feed Quality Traits, In Vitro Digestibility, and Seed Weight in Grain Sorghum¹

¹Contribution no. 01-53-J from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. ²Kansas State University, Department of Agronomy, Manhattan, KS 66502. ³Kansas State University, Department of Grain Science, Manhattan, KS 66502. ⁴USDA-ARS Grain Marketing Production and Research Center, Manhattan, KS 66502. Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by the USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable. ⁵USDA-REE-ARS-NPA, Wheat, Sorghum, and Forage Research, University of Nebraska, E. Campus, Lincoln, NE 68583. ⁶Kansas State University Research and Extension Center-Hays, Hays, KS 67601. ⁷Corresponding author. Phone: 785-532-7238. Fax: 785-532-6094. E-mail: mtuinstra@bear.agron.ksu.edu

Twenty-three entries of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), including eight inbred lines (five males and three females) and 15 hybrids, were evaluated to determine the proportion of γ, αII, and β-αI-kafirins and their association with contents of crude protein, fat, and starch; protein digestibility; in vitro dry matter disappearance; and seed weight. The male lines included three normal-seeded lines (TX2737, TX435, and P954063) and two large-seeded lines (Eastin1 and PL-1). Female lines consisted of three common U.S. seed parent lines (Wheatland, Redlan, and SA3042). The lines and their hybrids were grown under dryland conditions at two locations in Kansas using a randomized complete block design. The effects of genotype, location, and males were significant for all kafirins. Wide variations in composition and general combining ability (GCA) for kafirin content were noted among parent lines and hybrids, with TX2737, Eastin1, and PL1 having the largest GCA values for γ (1.37), αII (1.99), and β-αI (2.57), respectively. Correlations among kafirins ranged from -0.89 to 0, whereas those of kafirins with feed quality traits, digestibility, and seed weight ranged from -0.45 to 0.48.