Saccharum spontaneum L. has contributed important traits to modern sugarcane (S. spp. L.) cultivars such as adaptation to environmental stress and ratooning ability. There is interest in further use of S. spontaneum in sugarcane improvement for sugar or energy‐from‐biomass production systems. In this study, parents and progeny from 43 biparental crosses between sugarcane and S. spontaneum clones were evaluated in field trials in China and Australia, along with several commercial cultivars. The S. spontaneum clones were from diverse geographic origins in China. Measurements were made on biomass composition (% dry matter, brix and pol in juice and cane, purity, fiber content) and yield components. Moderate to high (>0.7) broad‐sense heritabilities and high genetic variances were observed for most traits. About half the total genetic variance was retained as among‐family variance for the biomass composition traits, but this proportion was generally <25% for biomass yields. Midparent values in an independent trial predicted biomass composition traits reasonably well (generally, r > 0.6), but less so for cane and biomass yield (0 < r < 0.4). Genetic correlations between performance of families evaluated in different countries were strong, providing preliminary evidence that results in one country could be used for identifying elite families in the other. Strategies for efficient development and selection of elite clones from S. spontaneum are suggested.
Erianthus arundinaceus has a number of important agronomic traits including good ratooning ability, tolerance to both drought and water logging, disease resistance and vigour and is of interest as a potential source of parental germplasm to sugarcane breeders. However, to date, attempts to produce fertile hybrids between sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) and E. arundinaceus have been unsuccessful. Microsatellite markers that generated genus-specific markers and were highly polymorphic within sugarcane were identified. The microsatellite markers and 5S rDNA PCR were used to screen intergeneric (F 1 ) clones from Saccharum officinarum · E. arundinaceus crosses, and two Saccharum backcross progeny (BC 1 ) populations derived from crosses between selected F 1 clones and sugarcane (Saccharum spp.), to identify genuine Saccharum spp. BC 1 progeny. The 5S rDNA PCR marker and highly polymorphic microsatellites with Erianthus-specific bands confirmed the F 1 parent of the two putative BC 1 populations was a S. officinarum · E. arundinaceus hybrid and allowed the identification of the genuine BC 1 progeny from selfs of the F 1 parent. This is the first verification of BC 1 progeny from an F 1 intergeneric hybrid · sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) clone with molecular markers and confirms the introgression of E. arundinaceus germplasm into sugarcane. It should now be possible to exploit genes of value from E. arundinaceus in sugarcane breeding programmes.
Sugarcane smut disease caused by the fungus Sporisorium scitamineum is one of the important fungal diseases affecting sugarcane yield and sucrose content around the world. Cultivar resistance is the most appropriate control method for this disease. In this study, 37 BC 1 lines chosen from the crossing YC96-40 (F 1 of Erianthus arundinaceus) × CP84-1198 (commercial sugarcane cultivar) and 42 BC 2 lines chosen from the crossing YCE01-116 (BC 1 of E. arundinaceus) × Neijiang57-416 (commercial sugarcane cultivar) were evaluated for smut resistance using artificial inoculation. The results showed that of 79 tested BC 1 and BC 2 lines of E. arundinaceus, 10 (12.7%) were highly to moderately resistant to smut. BC 1 of E. arundinaceus had more resistant lines than BC 2 of E. arundinaceus. Of the 37 tested BC 1 lines of E. arundinaceus, seven (18.9%) were highly to moderately resistant, while three (7.1%) of the 42 tested BC 2 lines of E. arundinaceus were highly to moderately resistant to smut. The resistant lines identified in this study could be used as sources of smut resistance in sugarcane breeding programs.
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