Population structure of Miscanthus sacchariflorus reveals two major polyploidization events, tetraploid-mediated unidirectional introgression from diploid M. sinensis, and diversity centred around the Yellow Sea
- Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; DOE/OSTI
- Agronomy Department, Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Research of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Årslev, Denmark
- Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
- Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, Russia
- TINPLANT Biotechnik und Pflanzenvermehrung GmbH, Klein Wanzleben, Germany
- Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea
- USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Lab, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
- Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Tjele, Denmark
- Life Science and Technology Center, China National Seed Group Co. Ltd, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
Miscanthus, a C4 perennial grass native to East Asia, is a promising biomass crop. Miscanthus sacchariflorus has a broad geographic range, is used to produce paper in China and is one of the parents (along with Miscanthus sinensis) of the important biomass species Miscanthus × giganteus. The largest study of M. sacchariflorus population genetics to date is reported here.
MethodsCollections included 764 individuals across East Asia. Samples were genotyped with 34 605 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived from restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) and ten plastid microsatellites, and were subjected to ploidy analysis by flow cytometry.
Key ResultsSix major genetic groups within M. sacchariflorus were identified using SNP data: three diploid groups, comprising Yangtze (M. sacchariflorus ssp. lutarioriparius), N China and Korea/NE China/Russia; and three tetraploid groups, comprising N China/Korea/Russia, S Japan and N Japan. Miscanthus sacchariflorus ssp. lutarioriparius was derived from the N China group, with a substantial bottleneck. Japanese and mainland tetraploids originated from independent polyploidization events. Hybrids between diploid M. sacchariflorus and M. sinensis were identified in Korea, but without introgression into either parent species. In contrast, tetraploid M. sacchariflorus in southern Japan and Korea exhibited substantial hybridization and introgression with local diploid M. sinensis.
ConclusionsGenetic data indicated that the land now under the Yellow Sea was a centre of diversity for M. sacchariflorus during the last glacial maximum, followed by a series of migrations as the climate became warmer and wetter. Overall, M. sacchariflorus has greater genetic diversity than M. sinensis, suggesting that breeding and selection within M. sacchariflorus will be important for the development of improved M. × giganteus. Ornamental M. sacchariflorus genotypes in Europe and North America represent a very narrow portion of the species’ genetic diversity, and thus do not well represent the species as a whole.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0006634; SC0012379
- OSTI ID:
- 1610876
- Journal Information:
- Annals of Botany, Journal Name: Annals of Botany Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 124; ISSN 0305-7364
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Genetic structure of Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus sacchariflorus in Japan indicates a gradient of bidirectional but asymmetric introgression