Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #205176
Title: Identification of parents for breeding sugarcane yellow leaf and ratoon stunt resistant cultivars

Author
item Comstock, Jack
item TAI, P - ARS RETIRED
item MILLER, J - ARS RETIRED

Submitted to: International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists Proceedings
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/2007
Publication Date: 7/31/2007
Citation: Comstock, J.C., Tai, P.Y.P., Miller, J.D. 2007. Identification of parents for breeding sugarcane yellow leaf and ratoon stunt resistant cultivars. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol. 26:978-987.

Interpretive Summary: Sugarcane cultivars that were used as parents were evaluated on their ability to produce yellow leaf and ratoon stunt resistant progeny based on passed performance. Because of the relative slow rate of spread of yellow leaf by the aphid vector, Melanaphidis sacchari, parental evaluation was not possible in the early stages of the variety development program. In contrast, identification of parents that produced more ratoon stunt resistant progeny than the overall parental mean was possible using an inoculation method to screen individual clones. Several parental clones were identified that had more resistant progeny than the overall parental mean. The use of these parental clones may further increase the proportion of resistant clones.

Technical Abstract: The incidence of sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) infection and ratoon stunt reaction of Stage II CP-clones were evaluated as means to identify parents for the development of resistant cultivars in the Florida sugarcane breeding program. Over two seasons (2002 and 2003), natural SCYLV infection and ratoon stunt infection characteristics resulting from inoculation were determined. Because of limited data, parents that would give rise to progeny with a lower incidence of SCYLV infection could not be identified. One parental clone, CP 94-1528, had a higher incidence of SCYLV than the overall mean of all the parents. The ratoon stunt data showed that three cultivars, CP 81-1384, CP 84-1198, and CP 93-1634, used either as a female or male parent over two years produced more resistant progeny than the other clones used in crosses at the same time.