Genetic variation in the collection of Panicum coloratum L. var. coloratum of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Rafaela, Argentina.

BARRIOS, C; BARAVALLE, E; THOMPSON, C; ANDRES, A; TOMÁS, A

Buenos Aires

Simposio; The 6th International Symposium on the Molecular Breeding on Forage and Turf.; 2010

Kleingrass (Panicum coloratum var. coloratum) is a warm-season allogamous perennial bunchgrass indigenous to South-Africa, reasonably drought tolerant that has been extensively used as forage in several countries, including Argentina. In the USA, breeding efforts have been successful in improving traits that were detrimental to kleingrass growth and development. In Argentina, INTA is building up a germplasm collection of adapted materials to be used in a breeding program.The aim of this study was to assess the extent of genetic variation of the germplasm collection of INTA-EEA Rafaela. Eight populations were collected in Cordoba (DF and UC), La Pampa (CH, AN, EM, SO and UL) and Entre Rios (CU). A synthetic cultivar Klein was also included (CM). Five individuals of each material were analyzed using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat markers (ISSRs). Differences among populations were evaluated through Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) and Principal Coordinates Analyses (PCO). Eight ISSR primers revealed 118 polymorphic bands. All populations showed, at least, one private band. Differences among populations were detected (¦µPT= 0.367, p<0.001). Mean percentage of polymorphic loci (P) was 33.62, ranging from 28.81% in EM and DF to 43.88% in CU. CU population also showed the highest heterocigocity (He= 0.147), number of bands (N= 57), and number of private bands (Np= 8) of all populations whereas EM had the lowest values (0.09, 41 and 1, respectively). DF population also showed low genetic variability (He= 0.093, N= 42) although the number of private bands was intermediate (Np= 4). The PCO showed that 68.3 % of the total variation was explained by the first three axes. The first axis separated CU and UC from all other 7 populations and the second one opposed SO to DF. Our findings suggest a considerable level of genetic variation in the collection to potentially be used in a breeding program.