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Title: GENETIC DIVERSITY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM SUGARCANE

Author
item SCHENCK, S - HI AG RES CNT
item CREPAU, M - HI AG RES CNT
item WU, K - HI AG RES CNT
item Moore, Paul
item YU, Q - HI AG RES CNT
item MING, R - HI AG RES CNT

Submitted to: Journal of Heredity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2004
Publication Date: 6/8/2004
Citation: Schenck, S., Crepau, M.W., Wu, K.K., Moore, P.H., Yu, Q., Ming, R. 2004. Genetic diversity and relationships of native hawaiian saccharum officinarum sugarcane. Journal of Heredity 95:327-331. 2004.

Interpretive Summary: The taxonomic and genetic relationships within and among Saccharum species is controversial because of their wide range of chromosome numbers and the need to rely on highly variable vegetative traits. Mankind's intentional selection among evolution's broad range of sugarcane types produced a diverse range of varieties for which we have no record of the genetic relationships. Since these varieties may have genes that prove to be valuable in the future, we need to conserve as many of these forms as economically feasible. The problems are that conservation is so expensive that we can afford to save only the most different forms, yet we do not have a quantitative measure of the level of diversity, especially among the understudied group of Saccharum officinarum. We report the development of methodology and applying it to an evaluation of the genetic diversity of a Hawaii collection of "native" sugarcane varieties thought to have been in Hawaii before the arrival of western man. We used this data to develop a molecular 'fingerprint' of the various native accessions and to reveal possible relationships that may be related to when the native Hawaiians imported the varieties from their voyages in the South Pacific. Our DNA data can be used to authenticate the identity of specific lines and to design cost-effective strategies for the preservation of the maximum amount of diversity at the least cost.

Technical Abstract: Commercial sugarcane hybrid cultivars currently in production are high-yielding, disease-resistant, millable canes and are the result of years of breeding work. in Hawaii, these commercial hybrids are quite distant from many Saccharum officinarum canes still in existence that were brought to the islands and cultivated by the native Polynesians. The actual genetic relationships among the native canes and the extent to which they contributed to the commercial hybrid germplasm has been the subject of speculation over the years. Genetic analysis of 43 presumed native Hawaiian S. officinarum clones using 228 DNA markers confirmed them to be a group distinct from the modern hybrid cultivars. The resulting dendrogram tended to confirm that there were several separate S. officinarum introductions that, owing to selections of somatic mutations, diverged into a number of cluster groups. When the "Sandwich Isles" were discovered by Captain James Cook in 1778, the Hawaiians were found t be growing sugarcne, S. officinarum (Cook 1785). Sugarcane (ko in the Hawaiian language) appeared in a variety of stalk and leaf colors, often with stripes (the "ribbon canes"). In the interest of preserving this historic germplasm, a collection was assembled in the 1920s by Edward L. Caum of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association and W. W. Moir of American Factors. Histories and descriptions of the canes were reported by Moir (1932).