ARS | Publication request: GENETIC DIVERSITY OF SACCHARUMSPONTANEUM ASSESSED WITH RAPDS

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 27, 1999
Publication Date: October 31, 1999
Citation: BURNER, D.M., PAN, Y., LEGENDRE, B.L. 1999. GENETIC DIVERSITY OF SACCHARUMSPONTANEUM ASSESSED WITH RAPDS. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRONOMY. 91:162.

Technical Abstract: Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPDs) are powerful markers for assessing genetic diversity, but there have been few RAPD analyses of Saccharum spontaneum, an exotic sugarcane species having great importance in sugarcane breeding. Our objective was to assess the genetic diversity in a collection of 33 S. spontaneum accessions and two sugarcane cultivars, LCP 82-89 and LCP 85-384. Total nucleic acid was extracted from leaf tissue of 12 selfed seedlings per accession, bulked within accessions, and amplified with 17 oligonucleotide primers. Similarity coefficients for amplification products among S. spontaneum accessions ranged from 0.34 to 0.59 indicating substantial genetic diversity. Cultivars were more similar to each other (0.42) than they were to any accession of S. spontaneum (range 0.50 to 0.63). Accessions of S. spontaneum were assigned to three clusters, and cultivars were assigned to a fourth cluster. Results are being used to develop clone-specific DNA markers.