DNA markers for identifying interspecific hybrids between Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Miscanthus sinensis

Interspecific hybrids between Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Miscanthus sinensis, such as Miscanthus × giganteus, are promising biomass crops for temperate regions. A set of DNA markers to distinguish both species would be a powerful tool for interspecific hybrid breeding. Out of 85 intron-flanking primer pairs developed using genomic information from sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid) and Sorghum bicolor, seven were selected that showed polymorphisms between M. sacchariflorus and M. sinensis. Four simple sequence repeat primer pairs were also screened that showed polymorphisms between both species from 44 previously developed primer pairs. Of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products generated by the 11 primer pairs, nine amplified fragments were specific to M. sacchariflorus and two were specific to M. sinensis, based on 83 accessions mainly from Japan but also including Chinese and Korean ones. Fragments specific to two species were detected in three known hybrid plants. These results indicate that combinations of these PCR fragments could be good markers for identifying hybrids of M. sacchariflorus and M. sinensis obtained from breeding programs or from natural crosses between wild sympatric populations.