Registration of 252 sequenced sorghum mutants as a community reverse genetic resource

Induced mutagenesis is a powerful approach to generate variations that can be used toward the elucidation of gene function and create new traits for crop improvement. We have developed a pedigreed mutant library through chemical mutagenesis with ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-treated seed from the sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) inbred line BTx623. The mutant library displayed a wide diversity of phenotypes, including potential traits of significant agronomic value. A selection of 252 lines (Reg. no. GS-794–Reg no. GS-1045, PI 701562–PI 701813) were sequenced to an average depth of 16x with paired-end sequencing using Illumina Highseq. This endeavor resulted in the detection and cataloguing of more than 1.8 million canonical EMS-induced mutations (variants). The variants were distributed across the sorghum genome uniformly, with 24,757 genes affected by impactful mutations that may alter the gene function. Mutations in genes of interest can be searched online through SorghumBase (https://www.sorghumbase.org). These sequenced mutants can be ordered through GRIN (https://www.ars-grin.gov/) with no associated fee.