ARS | Publication request: Phenotypic evaluation of the World Collection of Sugarcane and Related Grasses

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 4, 2012
Publication Date: January 14, 2013
Citation: Todd, J.R., Glynn, N.C., Ayala Silva, T., Glaz, B.S., Wang, J., Sood, S.G., Nayak, S.N., Gutierrez, O.A., Kuhn, D.N., Comstock, J.C. 2013. Phenotypic evaluation of the World Collection of Sugarcane and Related Grasses. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. P. 7.

Technical Abstract: Plants related to sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) produce biomass efficiently and rapidly and therefore may contain useful genes for biofuels. One of the two World Collections of Sugarcane and Related Grasses is located at the USDA-ARS Subtropical Horticulture Research Station in Miami, FL and presumably it is a source of genetic diversity and may contain many useful traits among its approximately 1000 accessions. If identified, these accessions could be utilized for breeding and cultivar development of energycane and sugarcane. The purpose of this research was to phenotypically evaluate all accessions in the Miami collection and select a subset of accessions that represents the vast majority of diversity within the population. A total of 841 accessions were available for phenotypic evaluation; accessions represented Coix gigantean (1), Erianthus sp. (20), Miscanthus floridulus (3), M. sinensis (5), Miscanthus hybrids (4), Narenga porphyrocoma (1), Saccharum arundinaceum (9), S. barberi (36), S. bengalense (5), S. brevibare (1), S. edule (4), S. kanashiroi (2), S. officinarum (105), S. procerum (1), S. ravennae (1), S. robustum (45), S. sinense (22), S. spontaneum (332), Saccharum hybrids (118), Sorghum arundinaceum (1), S. plumosum (1), and 122 unidentified accessions. The phenotypic measurements were taken in 2012 during three separate weeks: 3-5 Apr., 9-13 July, and 27-31 Aug. Traits measured or observed were stalk height, stalk diameter, internode length, stalk color, % flowering, leaf sheath pubescence, inner stalk aerenchyma and pith, Brix, and susceptibility to yellow leaf caused by Sugar Cane Yellow Leaf Virus(SCYLV). Data were analyzed using cluster analyses and along with genotypic analyses. In addition, about 300 clones, representative of the diversity in the collection, were selected for replicated testing. Results indicated that 18 S. spontaneum accessions presented a high Brix (mean = 14.7) and the total mean of the S. spontaneum Brix values was 9.0. Furthermore, 5 Erianthus and one Miscanthus with high Brix (mean = 14.2) were found. Finally, 649 (57.3%) plants resistant to SCYLV were detected in this study. In conclusion, this initial evaluation suggests that useful genes from specifically selected clones in the Miami collection, even from S. Spontaneum clones, could make important contributions to efforts to breed energycane and sugarcane cultivars with improved production and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.