SBIR Phase I: Enhancing Starch Quantity and Quality in Hybrid Grain Sorghum

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project developes methods to molecularly abort sorghum embryos, early in their development, to redirect nutrients, normally used for embryo development, toward starch accumulation. The research will construct and test genetic cassettes necessary for aborting embryo development in seeds and identify sorghum lines possessing high tissue culture regeneration potential. These high-energy grain sorghum products are being designed for the biomaterials/biofuels industries, and the goal is to achieve a 10-20% increase in yield of extractable starch per acre from sorghum hybrid seeds. The broader impacts of this research are the lessening of the nation's dependence on foreign oil in its production of bioplastics, biofilms and other biomaterials, enhanced agricultural prosperity for marginal farmland, and new and cost-effective methods of producing pharmaceuticals and other industrial chemicals.