Unraveling the genetic structure of Brazilian commercial sugarcane cultivars through microsatellite markers

Author(s)

Vieira Manechini, Joao Ricardo ^{[1, 2]} ; da Costa, Juliana Borges ^[1] ; Pereira, Bruna Turcatto ^[1] ; Carlini-Garcia, Luciana Aparecida ^[3] ; Xavier, Mauro Alexandre ^[1] ; de Andrade Landell, Marcos Guimaraes ^[1] ; Pinto, Luciana Rossini ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] IAC, Ctr Cana, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquite Filho, FCAV, Dept Genet & Melhoramento Plantas, Jaboticabal, SP - Brazil

^[3] APTA, Polo Reg Ctr Sul, Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PLoS One; v. 13, n. 4 APR 23 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 3

Abstract

The Brazilian sugarcane industry plays an important role in the worldwide supply of sugar and ethanol. Investigation into the genetic structure of current commercial cultivars and comparisons to the main ancestor species allow sugarcane breeding programs to better manage crosses and germplasm banks as well as to promote its rational use. In the present study, the genetic structure of a group of Brazilian cultivars currently grown by commercial producers was assessed through microsatellite markers and contrasted with a group of basic germplasm mainly composed of Saccharum officinarum and S. spontaneum accessions. A total of 285 alleles was obtained by a set of 12 SSRs primer pairs that taken together were able to efficiently distinguish and capture the genetic variability of sugarcane commercial cultivars and basic germplasm accessions allowing its application in a fast and cost-effective way for routine cultivar identification and management of sugarcane germplasm banks. Allelic distribution revealed that 97.6% of the cultivar alleles were found in the basic germplasm while 42% of the basic germplasm alleles were absent in cultivars. Of the absent alleles, 3% was exclusive to S. officinarum, 33% to S. spontaneum and 19% to other species/exotic hybrids. We found strong genetic differentiation between the Brazilian commercial cultivars and the two main species (S. officinarum: (Phi)over-cap(ST) = 0.211 and S. spontaneum: (Phi)over-cap(ST) = 0.216, P<0.001), and significant contribution of the latter in the genetic variability of commercial cultivars. Average dissimilarity within cultivars was 1.2 and 1.4 times lower than that within S. officinarum and S. spontaneum. Genetic divergence found between cultivars and S. spontaneum accessions has practical applications for energy cane breeding programs as the choice of more divergent parents will maximize the frequency of transgressive individuals in the progeny. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/22500-5 - Development of a database for molecular profile management of commercial cultivars, parents and wild accessions of sugarcane
• Grantee: Luciana Rossini Pinto Machado da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Regular Program Grants
• FAPESP's process: 08/57908-6 - National Institute of Science and Technology of Bioethanol
• Grantee: Marcos Silveira Buckeridge
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants