Erianthus germplasm collection in Thailand: genetic structure and phylogenetic aspects of tetraploid and hexaploid accessions

Abstract

Background The genus Erianthus, which belongs to the “Saccharum complex”, includes C4 warm-season grasses. Erianthus species are widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia. Erianthus arundinaceus (Retz.) Jeswiet is highly adaptable to the environment, has a high percentage of dry matter, and is highly productive. Recently, this species has attracted attention as a novel bioenergy crop and as a breeding material for sugarcane improvement. Such interest in E. arundinaceus has accelerated the collection and conservation of its genetic resources, mainly in Asian countries, and also evaluation of morphological, agricultural, and cytogenetic features in germplasm collections. In Thailand, genetic resources of E. arundinaceus have been collected over the past 20 years and their phenotypic traits have been evaluated. However, the genetic differences and relatedness of the germplasms are not fully understood. Results A set of 41 primer pairs for nuclear simple sequence repeats (SSRs) developed from E. arundinaceus were used to assess the genetic diversity of 121 Erianthus germplasms collected in Thailand; of these primer pairs, 28 detected a total of 316 alleles. A Bayesian clustering approach with these alleles classified the accessions into four main groups, generally corresponding to the previous classification based on phenotypic analysis. The results of principal coordinate analysis and phylogenetic analysis of the 121 accessions on the basis of the SSR markers showed the same trend as Bayesian clustering, whereas sequence variations of three non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA revealed eight haplotypes among the accessions. The analysis of genetic structure and phylogenetic relationships, however, found some accessions whose classification contradicted the results of previous phenotypic classification. Conclusions The molecular approach used in this study characterized the genetic diversity and relatedness of Erianthus germplasms collected across Thailand. This knowledge would allow efficient maintenance and conservation of the genetic resources of this grass and would help to use Erianthus species as breeding materials for development of novel bioenergy crops and sugarcane improvement.

New insights into polyploid evolution and dynamic nature of Ludwigia section Isnardia (Onagraceae)

“…Apart from the mating systems and evolutionary constraints mentioned in the earlier discussions, other attributes like geographic environments and climate factors were reported to affect infraspecific genetic diversity significantly in polyploid groups (e.g. Zhang et al 2017 ; Ahrens et al 2020 ; Androsiuk et al 2021 ; Tsuruta et al 2022 ). Further studies will be required to explain the lack of an effect of ploidy level on infragenetic genetic diversity in Isnardia .…”

Deciphering Winter Sprouting Potential of Erianthus procerus Derived Sugarcane Hybrids under Subtropical Climates

“…The genus Erianthus gained significant attention from sugarcane breeders worldwide as a source for high tillering, high ratooning ability, high biomass, and tolerance against potential biotic and abiotic stresses [9,12,15]. The Erianthus genus is highly adapted to varied environments and is extensively distributed in both tropical and subtropical regions [16]. However, the introgression of Erianthus had limitations due to low compatibility, high genetic distance, and difficulty in identifying the true hybrids from the selfed ones.…”

“…However, the introgression of Erianthus had limitations due to low compatibility, high genetic distance, and difficulty in identifying the true hybrids from the selfed ones. The work on the utilisation of Erianthus arundinaceus and its introgression into sugarcane for higher biomass has been successful [16][17][18][19]. Similarly, the utilisation of Erinathus procerus in sugarcane breeding was very limited, and the work on the intergeneric hybridisation between Saccharum and Erinathus procerus was performed at the ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore [20].…”