Browsing by Subject "Sugarcane"
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Item A Study in Sorghum Bicolor: QTL Analysis of Photoperiod Sensitive Sorghums, Evaluation of Sorghum x Sugarcane Hybrids and Trait Introgression for Intergeneric Hybrid Improvement(2013-07-22) Bartek, Matthew ScottRecently designated as a bioenergy crop, Sorghum is rather unique as it can produce large quantities of cellulose or sugar which can be used to produce advanced biofuels or compounds. Sweet sorghum contains high levels of sugars and biomass sorghums consist primarily of ligno-cellulosic biomass. Improvement of both sorghum types is essential for maximizing production and conversion efficiency. Photoperiod sensitive sorghum is thought to maximize biomass production yet maturity influence on biomass production and composition is not fully understood. Utilizing sorghum for sugar production has increased efforts to develop sweet sorghums with sugar yields similar to sugarcane. Hybridization of these species has been investigated with, until recently, little success. Testing newly developed intergeneric hybrids and improvement of parents used in their creation will determine their feasibility and improve hybrid performance. Objectives of this research are multifaceted. First, analyze photoperiod sensitive sorghum in varying day length environments to determine maturity effects on plant phenotype, composition, and QTL detection. Second, analyze intergeneric sorghum ? sugarcane hybrids to determine agronomic performance in relation to sugarcane. Lastly, introgress the iap allele into sweet sorghum females for use in intergeneric hybrid creation. Photoperiod sensitive sorghum RILs were evaluated in College Station and Weslaco, Texas and Puerto Rico which caused differential expression of plant maturity. Genetic control of trait expression was high for each location. Results indicate gradual induction of plant maturity increases detection of phenotypic QTL and detection of compositional QTL increases when maturity effects on plant phenotype are reduced. Intergeneric sorghum ? sugarcane F_1 hybrids were compared to sugarcane in Weslaco, Texas in 2011. Each hybrid expressed agronomic traits similar or better than that of the sugarcane variety. High levels of repeatability and genetic influence on trait expression were observed. Overall performance of the sugarcane variety was better than any individual hybrid tested. Introgression of iap into sweet sorghum was successful and generated seventeen new sweet sorghum female genotypes possessing the allele. Only two genotypes exhibited higher brix readings and both were later maturing than Tx3361. Height and maturity of all developed genotypes varied and desirability of developed lines was similar to Tx3361.Item Assessing Maturity in Sweet Sorghum Hybrids and its Role in Daily Biomass Supply(2012-07-16) Burks, PayneSweet sorghum is a highly versatile C4 grass noted for its improved drought tolerance and water use efficiency relative to sugarcane. Sweet sorghum is well suited for ethanol production due to a rapid growth rate, high biomass production, and a wide range of adaptation. Unlike the 12-18 month growth cycle of sugarcane, sweet sorghum produces a harvestable crop in three to five months. Sweet sorghum and sugarcane crops are complementary and in combination can extend the sugar mill seasons in many regions of the world to an estimated 8 months. Seasonal growth and weather patterns both optimize and restrict production of each crop to specific times of the year, however these are different for the two crops. In addition to temporally spacing the date of harvest between crops, the genetic variability of maturity within the crops may also be used to extend the mill seasons; specific hybrids can be used and selected to maximize yield throughout the harvest season. Under favorable growing environments, sweet sorghum hybrids of all maturity groups produced sugar yields ranging from 2.8 to 4.9 MT/ha. Early/medium, late, and very late maturity hybrids planted during April, May, and June planting dates are necessary to maximize the mill season. In this study, early/medium maturity hybrids planted during April and May matured for harvest between late July and mid-August. June planting dates were unfavorable for early/medium maturity hybrids. In addition, late and very late maturity hybrids planted during April matured for harvest in late August; the additional growing season thus resulted in higher sugar yields. Timely planting of late and very late maturity hybrids in April, May, and June produce the maximum yields for harvests after mid August. Intermittent use of late and very late maturity hybrids can therefore extend sugar milling seasons into mid November if so desired.Item IDENTIFICATION OF DROUGHT-RELATED QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI (QTLs) IN SUGARCANE (Saccharum spp.) USING GENIC MARKERS(2011-08-08) Sharma, VivekPopulation based association studies in crops that were established by domestication and early breeding can be a valuable basis for the identification of QTLs. A case control design in a population is an ideal way to identify maximum candidate sites contributing to a complex polygenic trait such as drought. In the current study, marker loci associated with drought related QTLs were identified in sugarcane (Saccharum spp), one of the most complex crop genomes, with its polyploid nature (>8), chromosome number (>100) and interspecific origin. The objectives of this investigation were: 1) development of genic markers, which can be used for marker-assisted selection of drought tolerant genotypes of sugarcane. 2) genotypic characterization of sugarcane population at drought related loci using EST-SSR markers. Using 55 microsatellite markers, 56 polymorphisms were scored among 80 modern sugarcane genotypes. Homogeneity of the population was confirmed by determining the distribution of allele frequencies obtained by random genomic microsatellite markers. This analysis was conducted in the STRUCTURE program and the population was divided in 3 subgroups based on the allelic distribution. Phenotypic data to evaluate drought tolerance among the genotypes was collected by measuring chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf temperature and leaf relative water content. A generalized linear model in SPSS was used to find association between marker loci and phenotypic data. Markers with significant association (P 0.001 level) with the trait were subjected to linear regression to screen the spurious associations. Based on the results, 21 EST-SSR markers and 11 TRAP markers related to drought-defining physiological parameters were considered as genuine associations in this study. Fifty-six polymorphisms produced by 13 EST-SSR primers were used to produce genetic similarity matrix for 80 genotypes. Dendrogram prepared from this genetic similarity matrix will be useful in selecting parents carrying diversity at drought specific loci.