Australia's native sorghums: a model for testing plant adaptation theories (ARC Discovery Project administered by Monash University) (2021-2024)

This proposal tests an emerging theory that allocation of resources by plants to growth or defence are interrelated, not alternatives as currently assumed. Like many crops, sorghum produces toxic cyanide, especially during droughts but its wild relatives make much less. This project aims to discover why cyanide is so common in domesticated plants and why levels increase with stress. This has important implications for developing crops that are high yielding and also climate resilient. Expected outcomes include full genome sequences for all of Australia¿s unique native sorghums, confirmation of new theories on the interrelationships between defence and growth and identification of new traits vital for developing the crops of the future.