Characterisation of Miscanthus genetic resources: a combined analysis of plastid and nuclear microsatellites, nrDNA sequences, flow cytometry and morphology.

Abstract

Miscanthus is a highly important forage and horticultural genus of perennial grasses (Poaceae) primarily native to South East Asia. Miscanthus is under intense global investigation as a biomass source for renewable energy production and several breeding initiatives are underway to develop new genotypes optimized for improved biomass and tolerance to a range of environmental stress conditions. A collection of 128 accessions belonging to the genus Miscanthus was established in Oak Park, Teagasc, Carlow, in 2008 and was investigated for morphological and molecular variation. Morphological traits were measured at the end of the second growing season and were compared with herbarium specimens of Miscanthus. Vegetative and inflorescence traits were scored and analysed using basic summary statistics, tests of normality and Principal Components Analysis (PCA). A large degree of morphological variation was recorded in the collections. The PCA of herbarium specimens was able to separate some species from others but there was also considerable overlap among species in the ordination, especially M. sacchariflorus, M. sinensis, M. condensatus and M. floridulus. These are known to be closely related and can interbreed. The PCA of the specimens from the Oak Park collection was less informative because of missing data due to lack of inflorescences (accessions did not flower). It was clear that morphology alone is often insufficient to distinguish taxa especially when inflorescence characters and ploidy information is lacking. The ploidy level of the accessions in the collection was evaluated through flow cytometry. The ploidy included di-, tri- and tetraploids. All individuals labelled as M. ×giganteus showed a triploid status, together with the newly bred M. sacchariflorus×M. sinensis hybrids. Most M. sinensis were diploids. Miscanthus sinensis Tea-62 was triploid and comparable to the value of the M. ×giganteus. A different situation was found for other non-diploid M. sinensis, in particular four M. sinensis ‘Goliath’ and the M. sinensis ‘Zebrinus’ Tea-33. In these the ratio measured by the flowcytometer was in between the values of the triploid M. giganteus and tetraploid M. sacchariflorus standards. The ‘Goliath-like’ hybrid is likely an autotriploid with three M. sinensis haploid sets, whereas M. ×giganteus is an allotriploid that is supposed to have two genomes from M. sinensis and one from M. sacchariflorus, which has a lower amount of DNA per haploid genome. DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer of the nrDNA were obtained for 76 genotypes in the collection and compared for polymorphism. The SNPs were particularly VI useful for differentiating M. sinensis, M. sacchariflorus and M. ×giganteus accessions and in combination with ploidy and morphology offer high potential for taxon identification. To gather more markers for population level diversity and differentiation studies, new microsatellite markers for both plastid and nuclear genomes were developed. For the development of plastid markers the chloroplast genome information of Saccharum officinarum was used. The nuclear SSRs (nSSRs) were developed from the sequences of 192 clones obtained from microsatellite enriched library. New primer pairs for the amplification of nineteen nuclear loci and six chloroplast loci were developed. Both chloroplast (cpSSR) and nSSR primers were used to characterise DNA variation, to help establish gene pools and to better understand hybridization and introgression. Huge genotypic variation was found within the genus, mostly in the species M. sinensis. The markers showed wide utility across a large number of Miscanthus species and also some closely related genera. The analysis of the cpSSRs showed a high number of different haplotypes but with a clear bias in allele composition between M. sinensis and the two species M. sacchariflorus and M. ×giganteus, thus confirming M. sacchariflorus as the maternal lineage of the hybrid M. xgiganteus. The nSSRs were found to be highly polymorphic across the collection and transferable to closely related genera such as Saccharum. The new markers were also used in UPGMA clustering and Bayesian structuring analysis to group individuals according to their similarity. Three major clusters of individuals were defined using the Bayesian STRUCTURE analysis with nuclear markers (nSSRs) and two with plastid markers (cpSSRs). In conclusion, the morphological, ploidy, sequence and microsatellite results highlighted the high level of diversity still unexplored in the genus and have clarified taxon identity of many accessions in the collection. A large set of new markers have been developed for the plant breeding and systematics community. The newly developed markers will be useful to further explore this diversity and to select useful traits for breeding of new and improved genotypes for biomass production.