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Abstract
Growing biofuel sorghum on marginal lands could be an efficient way to produce sustainable liquid fuels while avoiding competition with food crops. Microbial symbioses with both mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal fungi could be promising tools for optimizing marginal land growth under nutrient deficient conditions. Here I identified miRNAs, small non-coding RNAs involved in gene regulation, that could be useful in regulating genes important for optimum biofuel sorghum production, such as those involved in AMF symbiosis. MiRNA eQTL were also identified to give insights into the regulation of miRNA expression. Additionally, I explored how two endophytes, A. alternata and Neopestalotiopsis behaved across different sorghum varieties under drought stress. While microbial contamination confounds the results, this still represents the first effort to observe the role of these endophytes across multiple sorghum genotypes, providing a basis to inform future experimentation.