IDENTIFICATION OF MICROSATELLITE MARKERS FOR HIGH FIBRE CONTENT IN SUGARCANE

The high productivity and tolerance to various biotic and abiotic stresses in modern sugarcane varieties have been derived from the wild species Saccharum spontaneum , which is also a source for high fibre. In view of the importance of fibre in bioenergy and related sectors, an attempt was made to identify markers associated with fibre content in a hybrid population of sugarcane derived from an interspecific cross involving S. officinarum x S. spontaneum . Initially the DNA of the two parents and the DNA bulks representing high and low fibre progenies were screened with 124 sugarcane SSR primers, of which 102 primers generated polymorphic profiles between the two bulks. Ten of the primers generated specific markers consistently associated with high fibre content in the progenies. These markers will be useful in selecting high fibre clones during the various stages of selection in sugarcane breeding.