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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Genetics and Breeding Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #285083
Title: Assessment of genetic diversity in napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) using microsatellite, single-nucleotide polymorphism, and insertion-deletion markers from pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L] R. Br.)

Author
item KANDEL, RAJU - Fort Valley State University
item SINGH, HARI - Fort Valley State University
item SINGH, BHARAT - Fort Valley State University
item Harris-Shultz, Karen
item Anderson, William - Bill

Submitted to: Plant Molecular Biology Reporter
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/2015
Publication Date: 7/10/2015
Citation: Kandel, R., Singh, H.P., Singh, B.P., Harris-Shultz, K.R., Anderson, W.F. 2015. Assessment of genetic diversity in napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) using microsatellite, single-nucleotide polymorphism, and insertion-deletion markers from pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L] R. Br.). Plant Molecular Biology Reporter. doi: 10.1007/s11105-015-0918-2.

Interpretive Summary: Napiergrass, used primarily as a fodder crop, has had renewed interest as a bioenergy crop due to its high biomass production. Improvement of napiergrass has been limited to resistance to eyespot, yield for biomass, and the generation of a dwarf cultivar used for forage. Little is known about the genetic regions that control height, disease resistance, leaf stature, or conversion efficiency in napiergrass. Furthermore, no sequence specific genetic tools are available for napiergrass. In this study, DNA markers for a closely related grass, pearl millet, were tested to determine if they can be used in napiergrass. Markers cross amplified 66% of the time and these markers were used to assess genetic diversity from a napiergrass germplasm collection. These 71 markers will be used for genetic map construction and to identify markers linked to traits of economic importance.

Technical Abstract: Napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumacher) is a well established perennial fodder crop of African origin and is a potential bio-energy crop. The absence of genome sequence information in napiergrass has become an obstacle in the development of sequence specific markers which often involves a high developmental cost. This study aimed to determine cross-species transferability of microsatellite markers between pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and napiergrass and to assess the genetic diversity of napiergrass accessions. A total of 107 pearl millet microsatellite markers were tested of which 71 markers (66.35%) showed successful cross-amplification. Only 29 markers were selected to study the genetic diversity of napiergrass accessions maintained at USDA-ARS, Tifton, Georgia, USA. A total of 108 alleles were identified in 99 napiergrass accessions, a pearl millet line, and a sugarcane hybrid. The average PIC value was 0.212 per marker, while dice coefficient of similarity ranged from 0.50 to 1.0, indicating high genetic variability among accessions. The accessions with lowest dice coefficient of similarity values could be useful in breeding programs. Accessions with similarity coefficient of 1 could be an indication of common progenitors, or could be the same accession with different names. This is the first extensive work to identify microsatellite markers transferable from pearl millet to napiergrass and can be used to evaluate genetic diversity in napiergrass accessions.