Abstract
Cytotaxonomic studies were carried out on 26 accessions of Pennisetum spp. originating from the Active Germplasm Bank of Embrapa Gado de Leite-Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil.This study presents cytogenetics and reproductive morphological data for each one of these accessions, which allowed groupings and suggest botanical identifications to be established. The metaphases of the accessions characterized as P. purpureum confirmed the presence of 2n = 28 chromosomes that have already been described for this species. For the hybrids between P. purpureum and P. glaucum and for the hexaploids, resulting from the chromosome duplication of these hybrids, 2n = 21 and 2n = 42 chromosomes were confirmed, respectively. The wild accession identified as P. setosum showed metaphases with 2n = 54 chromosomes, while those characterized as P. nervosum had cells with 2n = 36 chromosomes. The wild accession 15 was different from the others for the morphological characters, with 2n = 36 chromosomes, and was classified as P. orientale. Two statistical procedures were used (canonical variables and cluster analysis on the basis of the Mahalanobis distance), and the results confirmed the conclusions obtained from the cytogenetic and morphologic analysis.
Highlights
The genus Pennisetum Rich. contains about 140 species, comprising such important cultivated species as napiergrass, pearl millet and kikuyu grass (Brunken, 1977; Kativu and Mithen, 1987)
The species belonging to this genus constitute a heterogeneous assemblage with different basic chromosome numbers (x = 5, 7, 8 and 9), ploidy levels varying from diploid to octoploid, sexual or apomictic reproductive behavior and annual, biennial or perennial life cycle (Martel et al, 1997)
Twenty-six Pennisetum spp. accessions belonging to the Active Germplasm Bank at Embrapa Gado de Leite, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil were evaluated including six P. purpureum accessions, five P. purpureum and P. glaucum interspecific hybrids and fifteen Pennisetum spp. accessions
Summary
The genus Pennisetum Rich. contains about 140 species, comprising such important cultivated species as napiergrass, pearl millet and kikuyu grass (Brunken, 1977; Kativu and Mithen, 1987). Contains about 140 species, comprising such important cultivated species as napiergrass, pearl millet and kikuyu grass (Brunken, 1977; Kativu and Mithen, 1987). Napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.), due to its high productive potential, carrying capacity and nutritient quality, has been highlighted as one of the most important tropical forages for dairy grazing system improvement in the tropics. Napiergrass and pearl millet germplasm offers great diversity in types of plants as well as wide genetic variability for the great majority of the characters of forage importance. Among the wild species of Pennisetum, there is great variation for these characteristics, with some of them having potential for napier grass breeding. The use of these species depends on the genetic compatibility with napiergrass
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