SSR Marker Based Molecular Genetic Diversity Analysis Among Saccharum spontaneum (L.) Collected from North Western Region of India

Abstract

Saccharum spontaneum L. is the most diverse species of the genus Saccharum with the widest distribution from Africa-Mediterranean region to Far East including South Pacific islands. Its contribution in the development of present day sugarcane cultivars is well recognized. In the present study, 30 S. spontaneum L. accessions collected from North Western India including the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan were characterized with respect to their ecological distribution using 20 STMS (Sequence Tagged Microsatellite Site) primers. The study revealed the ability of STMS markers in discriminating the accessions with specific markers with 95.4% polymorphism. The pair wise genetic distance among 30 S. spontaneum L. accessions ranged from 0.17 to 0.48 with an average of 0.32. The maximum genetic distance was observed between the pairs IND 07-1462 and IND 08-1501 and IND 07-1464 and IND 08-1501. All the 30 S. spontaneum L. accessions were grouped into five major clusters. Among the five clusters, Cluster II had maximum of nine accessions viz., IND 07-1461, IND 07-1462, IND 07-1463, IND 07-1465, IND 07-1466, IND 07-1467, IND 07-1468, IND 07-1470 and IND 07-1474. All the accessions except IND 07-1474 were from Kachchh district of North West arid zone with low rainfall and high salinity. Majority of the accessions clustered as per the agro-climatic zones. Unique markers for the accession IND 07-1460, IND 07-1463 and IND 07-1482 were identified which could help in maintaining germplasm identity. Accessions from arid and semi-arid zones were grouped separately into different clusters. These accessions were collected from the regions where drought and salinity were prevalent hence could be the potential sources for developing climate resilient sugarcane varieties with drought and salinity tolerance.