Isolation and characterisation of repeated DNA sequences from Erianthus spp. (Saccharinae: Andropogoneae)

Abstract

Four anonymous noncoding sequences were isolated from Erianthus arundinaceus. The four sequences were selected because they were specific to the genusErianthus section Ripidium, relative to Saccharum spp. These sequences, designated Eracsi 294, 228, 153, and 34, showed various degrees of repetitiveness and different patterns of distribution. Eracsi 34 and 153 were low- and medium-copy repeated sequences, respectively, and appeared to be present at discrete locations in the Erianthus genome. By contrast, Eracsi 294, also a low-copy sequence, appeared to be more dispersed in location, with some tandem arrays identified. Eracsi 228 was highly repeated and dispersed. The location of Eracsi 228 was more precisely determined by FISH and was found to be distributed along the length of, but not at the telomeres of, most chromosomes in two Erianthus species. The distribution of the four sequences was investigated in a sample of 65 Erianthus (representing 9 species) and 14 Saccharum (2 species) accessions. The usefulness of these sequences for phylogenetic and genome organisation studies in sugarcane and for assessing the genetic structure of Saccharum x Erianthus intergeneric hybrids is discussed.Key words: Erianthus, FISH, repetitive sequences, Saccharum, sugarcane.