Genetic diversity and species‐specific DNA markers ofCynodon

Abstract

Cynodon Rich. is one of the major turfgrass and forage genera in warmer climates of the United States and other world regions. New cultivars of Cynodon spp. are often developed by hybridization of a limited number of accessions of two species—C. transvaalensis Burtt Davy and C. dactylon (L.) Pers.—or by selection from existing cultivars. This may lead to an erosion of diversity. Several other species of this genus also exhibit desirable traits, and they could be used in the development of new cultivars to increase the range of genetic variation. In this study, the genetic diversity of seven Cynodon species was assessed using Diversity Array Technology sequencing (DArTseq). This technology is capable of identifying single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers with no prior DNA sequence information. The 85 analyzed accessions showed considerable genetic variation and formed several distinct groups based on the degree of relatedness. However, none of these groups were comprised of only accessions of the same species, suggesting that DNA marker groupings are not well in agreement with botanical classification for this genus. The identification of species‐specific SNP markers provides an additional tool for species reclassification and may clear up pedigrees of some established cultivars.

Directional Breeding Generates Distinct Genetic Diversity in Hybrid Turf Bermudagrass as Probed with Simple Sequence Repeat Markers

“…Expressed sequence tag-derived SSR (EST-SSR) markers were also used for genetic linkage mapping of bermudagrass (Harris-Shultz et al 2010). More recently, high-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphisms have been used to evaluate genetic diversity and identify genes in bermudagrass (Gan et al 2022;Pudzianowska and Baird 2021;Singh et al 2023). With the advancement of marker technology, a more precise understanding of the genetic variations within the species and environmental influences has been achieved and a foundation for molecular breeding applications in bermudagrass has been created.…”