Abstract:

Miscanthusspecies have shown great potential as second-generation energy crops, especially when planted on marginal land. Within the genus, M. nepalensisand M. nudipes are much different from other species owing to the presence of only two anthers, and are thus treated as sect. Diandra Keng taxonomically. Distributed in the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains, the two species exhibit a very high level of tolerance to cold and drought stresses. In order to scientifically develop these crop species, the first step would be to carry out a population-genetic investigation to elucidate the genetic basis of phenotypes such as tolerance-related and morphological characteristics. For this purpose, we need to select practical and high-resolution molecular markers. We sequenced six individuals of M. nepalensisandM. nudipes to validate the efficacious use of 42 previously-used SSR primer pairs. A total of 14 primer pairs were identified as applicable, of which 12 were from Miscanthusspecies, indicating that the amplification ratio within genus Miscanthus is 52.2% (12/23). Of the 14 primer pairs, 11 were polymorphic. Screening four natural populations of M. nepalensisand M. nudipesusing the 14 SSR markers, we found that these primers had high power in detecting genetic diversity and population genetic structure in M. nepalensisand M. nudipes, and thus provide feasible genetic markers for population genetics studies and molecular breeding.

Key words: Miscanthus nepalensis, Miscanthus nudipes, SSR primers, energy crop, polymorphism