Biparental crosses confirmed by SSR with Mendelian inheritance in sugarcane breeding

PERERA, F.; GARCÍA, M.B.; DIAZ ROMERO, C; CUENYA, M.; FILIPPONE MARIA PAULA; CASTAGNARO, A.

Rev. Ind. y Agríc. de Tucumán

Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres

Lugar: Tucumán; Año: 2012 vol. 2 p. 1 - 7

0370-5404

In sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) breeding programs, parents used in crosses are classified as male or female based on the relative amounts of viable pollen produced. High pollen production favored by environmental conditions reduces ?female inflorescence? availability and restricts the possibility of cross combinations. However, male parents could be employed as female parents when an efficient emasculation treatment is used. An ideal approach for hybridity testing is using molecular markers, especially microsatellites (SSR). To determine the effectiveness of an emasculation treatment (immersion of the panicle in water at 50ºC for five minutes) employed in the Sugarcane Breeding Program of Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres (EEAOC), Tucumán, Argentina, six cross combinations (selfings and reciprocals) between two varieties commonly used as males, LCP 85-384 and RA 87-3, were evaluated by using SSRs. Samples were amplified with one primer pair that produced seven polymorphic and three monomorphic bands between the two progenitors. While Mendelian segregation may be difficult to observe in the progeny of a complex polyploid like sugarcane, the analysis showed that each marker segregated in a Mendelian fashion (as evaluated by ! 2 tests, Pa0.05) for each cross combination. Results indicated that the emasculation treatment was successful and that SSRs made it possible to identify true hybrid progeny routinely in sugarcane breeding.