ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Breeding
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1632346
Phenotypic and Genetic Characterization of Sixteen Grain and Dual-Type Industrial Hemp 1 Varieties (Cannabis sativa L.) for Agronomic and Yield Component Traits
Provisionally accepted
Kusum Tamang1
Thomas Mawhinney2
Joshua Asiamah1
Christian B. Carson1
Sakina Mahdi1Swastika Sharma1
Prabesh Koirala1
Emily Reed1Clement Akotsen Mensah3Jaimin S. Patel4
Babu Valliyodan1*- 1Lincoln University, Jefferson City, United States
- 2University of Missouri, Columbia, Kentucky, United States
- 3Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States
- 4North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
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Abstract 25 Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a multipurpose crop primarily grown for fiber, grain, and 26 cannabinoids. Due to its high-quality protein and oil composition, industrial hemp grain is 27 increasingly an important crop for a nutritional source. Although the global demand for hemp grain 28 is increasing, research exploring the genetic and climatic effects of agronomic and seed 29 composition traits is limited. Furthermore, there has been very little research conducted on seed 30 development and shattering. Therefore, to study this biological phenomenon and for optimal hemp 31 grain production in Missouri, suitable cultivars for this production region were compared to 32 identify the best-suited ones. Fourteen key physiological and seed compositional traits were 33 studied. We found significant variation in plant height, diameter, biomass, grain yield, crude 34 protein, and crude fat among the evaluated varieties. The dual type variety, Futura 83, showed 35 superior performance and yield and has many suitable traits for the Missouri production region, 36 with the grain yield ranging from 2434–2793 kg/ha. In addition, we studied the expression of two 37 candidate genes associated with seed shattering resistance and flowering. Both genes were 38 expressed differentially among various hemp tissues. The expression of the GmPdh1 homolog 39 gene was higher in mature seeds, and the GmDt1 homolog was higher in flower tissues, suggesting 40 their potential role in seed dispersal and flowering. However, further research is required for 41 functional validation and increasing the crop yield and seed composition.
Keywords: Industrial hemp, Grain hemp, dual-type hemp, grain yield, Flowering trait, seed shattering resistance, seed composition
Received: 21 May 2025; Accepted: 17 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tamang, Mawhinney, Asiamah, Carson, Mahdi, Sharma, Koirala, Reed, Mensah, Patel and Valliyodan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Babu Valliyodan, valliyodanb@lincolnu.edu
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.