tailieunhanh - Evaluation of Erianthus procerus introgressed sugarcane clones for water deficit stress and red rot resistance

Sugarcane is one of the major commercial crops in India and its productivity is severely hampered by drought and red rot. It is essential to enhance the abiotic and biotic stress tolerance by exploiting novel and diverse source of germplasm for sugarcane improvement and sustain productivity. Of late considerable attention has been given to utilize Erianthus spp a wild relative of sugarcane. In this study, Erianthus procerus introgressed intergeneric hybrid and backcross hybrids were evaluated for water deficit stress and red rot resistance. The somatic chromosome number of backcross hybrids ranged from 2n=88 to 94 and all the backcross hybrids were results of n+n transmission. The intergeneric hybrid GU 04 (28) EO-2 and the back cross hybrids viz., GU 12-21, GU 12-23, GU 12-29 and GU 12-31 were resistant against the highly virulent mixed inoculum of cf 671 and cf 94012 (Colletotricum falcatum). Three clones viz., GU 04 (28) EO-2, GU 12-28 and GU 12-34 recorded significantly higher shoot fresh weight, root fresh weight and root dry weight under water deficit stress condition and dry root weight showed positive and significant association () with stress tolerance index (STI). These E. procerus introgressed clones could serve as a potential donor for developing and enhancing drought and red rot resistance in sugarcane. | Evaluation of Erianthus procerus introgressed sugarcane clones for water deficit stress and red rot resistance