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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Crop Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #82918
Title: COMPARATIVE ALIGNMENT OF A BUFFELGRASS LINKAGE MAP WITH GRAIN CROPS

Author
item WANG, Y - TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY
item HUSSEY, M - TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY
item MING, R - TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY
item Burson, Byron
item PATERSON, A - TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/31/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In contrast to grain crops, few linkage maps have been developed for perennial forage grasses. In this research a comparative mapping approach was used to develop an RFLP linkage map for an F1 population of buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link syn Cenchrus ciliaris L.] segregating for method of reproduction (apomictic vs sexual) as well as several morphological and forage quality traits. Buffelgrass is an aposporous apomictic species that is grown on more than 2.5 million ha in south Texas and Mexico. In this study, a total of 862 genomic and cDNA probes from rice, sorghum, sugarcane, corn, wheat, oats, johnsongrass, pearl millet, barley, and bermudagrass were evaluated. Thirty-four percent of the probes surveyed were polymorphic, with the highest homology being observed for those species most closely related to buffelgrass. Mapping genes for reproductive, morphological, and forage quality traits will not only provide a tool for forage breeders, but also provide the basis for positional cloning of the gene(s) controlling apomictic reproduction in plants.