Agronomic and molecular characterization of wild germplasm Saccharum spontaneum for sugarcane and energycane breeding purposes

Jorge Alberto Gonçalves Da Silva,Everton Jean Da Silva Barreto,Nora Solís-Gracia,Neil Charles Glynn,Thiago Gibbin Marconi,Paulo Mafra De Almeida Costa,Jon-Won Park

doi:10.1590/1678-992x-2017-0028

Abstract

Among the species related to sugarcane, Saccharum spontaneum (L.) is a wild species with the greatest potential as a source of genetic variation to cope with biomass production in harsh environments. Due to its high yield, early vigor, ratooning ability, low input requirements and tolerance to various biotic and abiotic stresses, sugarcane breeders have shown interest in its contribution, as a donor of genes, to the development of high biomass energy canes. The conservation, evaluation and utilization of the genetic variability of S. spontaneum available in germplasm collections are critical for breeding, but, given the aggressive rhizomatous growth habit and the ability to propagate via seed dispersal, S. spontaneum is classified as a noxious weed in several nations, including the U.S.A. As a result, field trials are restrictive and few phenotypic analyses have been carried out on these collections. In the present study, a subset of 130 S. spontaneum accessions obtained from the World Collection of Sugarcane and Related Grasses in Miami, FL has been characterized phenotypically - with either morphological and agronomic traits (including composition analysis) or reaction to abiotic stress and genotypically - molecular markers (Simple Sequence Repeats - SSR). Using these data, a core collection has been established, genotypes with positive agronomic traits have been identified and are being used as parents for hybridization crosses, aimed at genetic improvement of sugarcane and energycane.

Highlights

IntroductionAmong the species from the Saccharum complex (Dillon et al, 2007), S. spontaneum is a wild species with the widest distribution (Tai and Miller, 2002), and is the one that probably presents the greatest potential source of genetic variation to cope with biomass production in harsh environments (Aitken and McNeil, 2010)
The conservation, evaluation and utilization of the genetic variability of S. spontaneum available in germplasm collections are critical for breeding, but, given the aggressive rhizomatous growth habit and the ability to propagate via seed dispersal, S. spontaneum is classified as a noxious weed in several nations, including the U.S.A
Among the species from the Saccharum complex (Dillon et al, 2007), S. spontaneum is a wild species with the widest distribution (Tai and Miller, 2002), and is the one that probably presents the greatest potential source of genetic variation to cope with biomass production in harsh environments (Aitken and McNeil, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

Among the species from the Saccharum complex (Dillon et al, 2007), S. spontaneum is a wild species with the widest distribution (Tai and Miller, 2002), and is the one that probably presents the greatest potential source of genetic variation to cope with biomass production in harsh environments (Aitken and McNeil, 2010). As a matter of fact, according to Martin (1996), only two genotypes of this species were used in the initial crosses made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in India and Java, giving rise to all modern sugarcane varieties grown in the world today. For these reasons, sugarcane breeders have shown interest in the S. spontaneum contribution as a donor of genes for the development of high biomass energy canes (Matsuoka et al, 2014). Considering the importance of assessing genetic variability for breeding purposes and the difficulties of conducting trials in a whole germplasm collection, careful selection of a core collection would be a useful approach to providing genetic resources for the genetic improvement of sugarcane and energy canes

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