Assessment of Genetic Diversity among Sugarcane Cultivars (Saccharum officinarum L.) using Simple Sequence Repeats Markers

Problem statement: Increasing sugar productivity is the main concern of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) breeding programs. The complexity and size of the sugarcane genome is a major limitation in its genetic improvement. Characterization of sugarcane provides essential information of genetic diversity for breeders utilize for crop improvement. Approach and Results: The objective of this study was to evaluate the microsatellite markers (SSR) with 17 sugarcane accessions to access the genetic diversity and inter relationships in sugarcane. Genetic distances for SSR data (polymorphic fragments) were determined and relationships between samples were portrayed graphically in the form of a dendrogram and similarities are ranging from 36% to 100% were observed. The lowest genetic similarity of 36% was seen between sample 9 and 11 with other samples. These two genotypes differed from each other with only 68% similarity. Conclusion: Results illustrate that SSR markers could be useful for structuring the genetic diversity of collections according to geographical origin and ploidy level, assessment or formation of a core collection and especially construction of a genetic map.