Abstract
Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) has demonstrated potential for bioenergy production in North America, South America, and Europe. Our objectives were to: 1) determine genetic variation and narrow-sense heritability for biomass and related morphological traits, and 2) identify half-sib families with superior biomass yield and potential for use in cultivar development in cup plant. Thirty three half-sib families and a check were evaluated at two locations in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Annual biomass yield at Brookings ranged from 2183 kgm whereas, yields at Arlington were similar among years. Mean individual half-sib family biomass yield ranged from 3912 to 6784 kg·ha-1 at Brookings and from 5682 to 11,269 kg·ha-1 at Arlington. Heritability estimates for five biomass-related morphological traits ranged from 0.52 to 0.72. This cup plant population had potential for biomass production in the north central USA and contained sufficient additive genetic variation to expect progress from among-and-within-family selection for biomass yield and related traits.
Highlights
Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum L.) is a tall and vigorous diploid (n = 7) member of the Heliantheae tribe of the Asteraceae family
Because it is well adapted to low, moist prairies which are not suitable for conventional perennial crops, such as alfalfa, (Boe, unpublished data), could be an excellent complementary species to grow in mixtures with perennial grasses for biofuel [14]
The cup plant population used for this genetic study was composed of progenies of 33 parent plants derived from bulk seed produced by putative random mating among several plants from each of natural populations from Minnesota and Illinois in a spaced plant nursery at Brookings, SD
Summary
Cup plant was likely introduced to Europe in the 18th century as an ornamental [8] and to Russia in the 1950s as a forage crop [3]. A recent study in Germany determined cup plant had potential for bioenergy production on marginal land because of its high water use efficiency and adaptation to low input agricultural practices [13]. Because it is well adapted to low, moist prairies which are not suitable for conventional perennial crops, such as alfalfa, (Boe, unpublished data), could be an excellent complementary species to grow in mixtures with perennial grasses for biofuel [14]. A recent review article concluded that cup plant was a very promising crop for biogas production throughout Europe due to its high biomass yield, stand longevity, and usefulness for erosion control on marginal land [8]. The authors pointed out that development of new cultivars, optimization of harvest timing, identification of potential disease and insect pests, and development of effective for rapid stand establishment from seed were areas of needed research
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