Abstract
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) is an important sugar and bioenergy crop with a high aneuploidy, complex genomes and extreme heterozygosity. A good understanding of genetic diversity and population structure among sugarcane parental lines is a prerequisite for sugarcane improvement through breeding. In order to understand genetic characteristics of parental lines used in sugarcane breeding programs in China, 150 of the most popular accessions were analyzed with 21 fluorescence-labeled simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers and high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE). A total of 226 SSR alleles of high-resolution capacity were identified. Among the series obtained from different origins, the YC-series, which contained eight unique alleles, had the highest genetic diversity. Based on the population structure analysis, the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and phylogenetic analysis, the 150 accessions were clustered into two distinct sub-populations (Pop1 and Pop2). Pop1 contained the majority of clones introduced to China (including 28/29 CP-series accessions) while accessions native to China clustered in Pop2. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), fixation index (Fst) value and gene flow (Nm) value all indicated the very low genetic differentiation between the two groups. This study illustrated that fluorescence-labeled SSR markers combined with high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) could be a very useful tool for genotyping of the polyploidy sugarcane. The results provided valuable information for sugarcane breeders to better manage the parental germplasm, choose the best parents to cross, and produce the best progeny to evaluate and select for new cultivar(s).
Highlights
Sugarcane cultivars are allopolyploids with highly heterozygous and complex genomes, which render a slow progress in breeding
This paper reports a study that was designed to manage the parental germplasm of the sugarcane breeding programs in China through the microsatellite (SSR) DNA fingerprinting using fluorescence-labeled simple sequence repeats (SSR) primers and the high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) system
Using a high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) detection system, the most widely used 150 sugarcane parental clones from 15 different series were fingerprinted with 21 SSR primer pairs
Summary
Sugarcane cultivars are allopolyploids with highly heterozygous and complex genomes, which render a slow progress in breeding. Most commercial sugarcane varieties can be traced back to a limited number of popular cultivars belonging to either the POJ- or Co-series, which represent a very narrow genetic base [1]. It is important for sugarcane breeders to fully understand the genetic relationship among parental lines and to choose elite parents of different genetic background for crossing in order to broaden the genetic diversity of sugarcane population [2]. Hainan sugarcane breeding station (HSBS) is the primary sugarcane crossing facility in Mainland. It produces most the seeds for sugarcane breeders in China every year [3]. HSBS has Agronomy 2019, 9, 449; doi:10.3390/agronomy9080449 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
