Simple DNA marker‐assisted selection of endophyte (Epichloë uncinata)‐infected festulolium. (14th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kubota, Akito; Akiyama, Yukio; Fujimori, Masahiro; Tamura, Ken–Ichi; Sasaki, Tohru; Kasai, Eri
• Is Part Of: Grassland science. Volume 65:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 32
• Page End: 40
• Publication Date: 2018-11-14
• Subjects: DNA marker -- endophyte -- Festuca -- festulolium -- Lolium; Grasslands -- Periodicals; Grasslands -- Management -- Periodicals; 578.74
• DOI: 10.1111/grs.12218
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-6961

Abstract

Abstract: In this study, to breed endophyte ( Epichloë uncinata )‐infected festololium (x Festulolium Aschers.et Graebn.), we backcrossed endophyte‐infected Italian ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum Lam.) to festulolium. To prevent self‐pollinated plants being mixed with the progeny, we used polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based DNA marker sets distinguishing between Lolium and Festuca species. In the first backcrossing (F1 development), 20 of the 21 progeny plants showed Festuca ‐specific band patterns and were endophyte‐infected. We developed six maternal lines (BC1 development) by backcrossing six selected F1 plants. More than 97% of plants from five maternal lines had novel Festuca ‐specific band patterns which their maternal parents lacked. However, only 54% plants of the maternal line F1–18 exhibited novel Festuca ‐specific band patterns. F1–18 showed Festuca ‐specific band patterns with almost all tested DNA marker sets, and its f ratio (the ratio of Festuca ‐specific region to the whole genome) was 31.1%, indicating that F1–18 had an almost complete set of the Festuca genome. Because paternal backcrossing festulolium parents were amphidiploids, an f ratio of approximately 25% corresponds to a complete set of the Festuca genome. We found that it was difficult to evaluate BC2 hybridity using the same DNA marker sets because very few DNA markers were distinctive. In total, we bred and selected at least 146 true BC1 hybrids and endophyte‐infected plants using DNA markers.