Assessing the genetic diversity of Panicum coloratum var. makarikariense using agro-morphological traits and microsatellite-based markers

ARMANDO, L; TOMAS A; GARAYALDE AF; CARRERA A

ANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2015 vol. 167 p. 373 - 386

0003-4746

Panicum coloratum var. makarikariense is a perennial C4 grass native to SouthAfrica with relatively good forage production under limited-resource conditions.Genetic characterisation and breeding efforts have been scant,thus limiting its use in cattle raising systems. The goal of the presentstudy was to assess the genetic diversity of a collection of P. coloratum var.makarikariense using agro-morphological traits and molecular markers, incomparison with one accession of var. coloratum and one population of Panicumbergii. Agro-morphological variability between and within accessions of var.makarikariense in a common garden setting was observed, showing that thereis still opportunity for selection. Some accessions performed better than thecommercialised material in relation to potential forage production. A total of117 ISSR bands and 48 SSR alleles allowed the detection of genetic variabilitybetween and within accessions. The presence of accession-specific bands suggesteddistinctness and limited gene flow. The genetic variability encounteredin the commercialised material suggested that it is a stabilised populationwhich has not undergone a strong selection process. Low correlation betweenagro-morphologic and molecular variability was observed indicating that bothapproaches provide complementary information. Both morphological andmolecular markers reveal genetic differentiation between varieties and species.This study provides a set of new SSR markers available for diversity assessmentand valuable information that can be applied directly in collectionmanagementfor breeding and conservation programmes.