Sugarcane genotypes assessment under drought condition using amplified fragment length polymorphism

Abstract

Background and Objective: Improving tolerance of crop plants to different types of environmental stress is an important key to crop production sustainability. Sugarcane productivity and geographical distribution are affected with drought stress. This study was focused on evaluation the performance of eight sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) genotypes under drought stress. Materials and Methods: Eight sugarcane genotypes were assessed for drought tolerant using following yield-related traits:stalk height, stalk diameter, stalk weight, leaf area and number of stalks/plant. Eight AFLP combination were used to detect the genotype specific marker. Results: The eight sugarcane genotypes were assessed for their water stress tolerance in sand culture experiment. Analysis of variance showed significant differences for these traits among the eight genotypes under control and drought treatments. The results indicated that genotypes Co. 285, Co. 997 and Bo.19 were the most tolerant and genotypes Co. 775, F.141 and Co. 396 were the most sensitive ones. However, genotypes G2003-47 and G2007-61 were moderate drought tolerant genotypes. Among the sensitive genotypes, the Co. 775 was the most sensitive one that recorded the highest reduction (%) with all traits except stalk diameter which increased for all genotypes. The Co. 775 and Co. 997 genotypes were used in AFLP analysis. Eight AFLP primer combinations were used to estimate the level of polymorphism among drought tolerant sugarcane genotype Co. 997 and drought susceptible genotype Co. 775. The eight AFLP primer combinations amplified a total number of 886 amplicons, where 55 were polymorphic representing 6.2% polymorphism. Conclusion: The eight genotypes genetically different in their response to drought tolerance. The AFLP marker can be used as genetic marker to assess the sugarcane genotypes and Co. 775 was more sensitive and Co. 997 was most tolerant genotype.