Productivity and Feed Quality Performance of Napier Grass (Cenchrus purpureus) Genotypes Growing under Different Soil Moisture Levels.

In the semi-arid and arid environments of Sub-Sharan Africa, forage availability throughout the year is insufficient and highly limited during the dry seasons due to limited precipitation. Thus, the identification of drought stress-tolerant forage cultivars is one of the main activities in forage development programs. In this study, Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus), an important forage crop in Eastern and Central Africa that is broadly adapted to produce across tropical environments, was evaluated for its water use efficiency and production performance under field drought stress conditions. Eighty-four Napier grass genotypes were evaluated for their drought stress tolerance from 2018 to 2020 using agro-morphological and feed quality traits under two soil moisture stress regimes during the dry season, i.e., moderate (MWS) and severe (SWS) water stress conditions, and under rainfed conditions in the wet season (wet). Overall, the results indicated the existence of genotype variation for the traits studied. In general, the growth and productivity of the genotypes declined under SWS compared to MWS conditions. High biomass-yielding genotypes with enhanced WUE were consistently observed across harvests in each soil moisture stress regime. In addition, the top biomass-yielding genotypes produced the highest annual crude protein yield, indicating the possibility of developing high-feed-quality Napier grass genotypes for drought stress environments.

Sugar content variation in elephant grass germplasm / Variação do teor de açúcar em germoplasma de capim-elefante

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to estimate sugar content variation (°Brix) in 95 accessions from the elephant grass germplasm active bank of Embrapa Dairy Cattle research center, located in Coronel Pacheco, MG, Brazil. The accessions with the highest sugar content were identified, and the effect of plant age on sugar concentration was evaluated. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks design with two replications. Sugar content analysis occurred twice during the growth-cycle (at 70 and 100 days) along two points of the stem, one 30 cm from the base and the other at the midpoint. The analysis of variance considered the split plot model, with accessions as main plots and plant age as subplots. The means were compared using the Scott Knott test. While there was sugar content variation between accessions, increased plant age had no significant effect on the sugar content. However, some accessions did have a significant increase or decrease in sugar content as they aged. The highest and lowest mean sugar content was 6.96% (in the accession BAG80) and 4.03% (in the accession BAG13) °Brix, respectively.

RESUMO: O objetivo deste estudo foi estimar a variação do teor de açúcar (°Brix) existente entre 95 acessos do banco ativo de germoplasma de capim-elefante da Embrapa Gado de Leite, localizado no campo experimental de Coronel Pacheco. Foram identificados os acessos com maior teor de açúcar, bem como avaliado o efeito da idade da planta sobre a variação da concentração de açúcar. O experimento foi conduzido em blocos ao acaso com duas repetições, 95 genótipos, duas idades de planta, 70 e 100 dias de crescimento, e análise do teor de açúcar em duas secções amostradas à 30 cm da base e na metade do colmo. A análise de variância considerou modelo de parcela subdividida no tempo, sendo os acessos, as parcelas e a idade da planta as subparcelas. As médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Scott Knott. Observou-se variação no teor de açúcar entre os acessos, porém não foi observado efeito significativo no teor de açúcar devido ao aumento da idade da planta. Entretanto, alguns acessos apresentaram interação significativa com aumento ou redução do teor de açúcar em decorrência do aumento da idade da planta. O acesso de maior média de teor de açúcares entre as duas idades foi BAG80, com 6,96%, e o de menor foi BAG13, com 4,03%.

Unraveling candidate genes underlying biomass digestibility in elephant grass (Cenchrus purpureus).

BACKGROUND: Elephant grass [Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone] is used for bioenergy and animal feed. In order to identify candidate genes that could be exploited for marker-assisted selection in elephant grass, this study aimed to investigate changes in predictive accuracy using genomic relationship information and simple sequence repeats for eight traits (height, green biomass, dry biomass, acid and neutral detergent fiber, lignin content, biomass digestibility, and dry matter concentration) linked to bioenergetics and animal feeding. RESULTS: We used single-step, genome-based best linear unbiased prediction and genome association methods to investigate changes in predictive accuracy and find candidate genes using genomic relationship information. Genetic variability (p < 0.05) was detected for most of the traits evaluated. In general, the overall means for the traits varied widely over the cuttings, which was corroborated by a significant genotype by cutting interaction. Knowing the genomic relationships increased the predictive accuracy of the biomass quality traits. We found that one marker (M28_161) was significantly associated with high values of biomass digestibility. The marker had moderate linkage disequilibrium with another marker (M35_202) that, in general, was detected in genotypes with low values of biomass digestibility. In silico analysis revealed that both markers have orthologous regions in other C4 grasses such as Setaria viridis, Panicum hallii, and Panicum virgatum, and these regions are located close to candidate genes involved in the biosynthesis of cell wall molecules (xyloglucan and lignin), which support their association with biomass digestibility. CONCLUSIONS: The markers and candidate genes identified here are useful for breeding programs aimed at changing biomass digestibility in elephant grass. These markers can be used in marker-assisted selection to grow elephant grass cultivars for different uses, e.g., bioenergy production, bio-based products, co-products, bioactive compounds, and animal feed.

Genetic insights into elephantgrass persistence for bioenergy purpose.

Persistence may be defined as high sustained yield over multi-harvest. Genetic insights about persistence are essential to ensure the success of breeding programs and any biomass-based project. This paper focuses on assessing the biomass yield persistence for bioenergy purpose of 100 elephantgrass clones measured in six growth seasons in Brazil. To assess the clones' persistence, an index based on random regression models and genotype-ideotype distance was proposed. Results suggested the existence of wide genetic variability between elephantgrass clones, and that the yield trajectories along the harvests generate genetic insights into elephantgrass clones' persistence and G x E interaction. A gene pool that acts over the biomass yield (regardless of the harvest) was detected, as well as other gene pools, which show differences on genes expression (these genes are the major responsible for clones' persistence). The lower and higher clones' persistence was discussed based on genome dosage effect and natural biological nitrogen fixation ability applied to bioenergy industry. The huge potential of energy crops necessarily is associated with genetic insights into persistence, so just this way, breeding programs could breed a new cultivar that fulfills the bioenergy industries.

Predição de médias de linhagens obtidas de híbridos simples de milho (Zea mays L. ) / Prediction of maize (Zea mays L. ) inbred lines means from single-crosses

A utilização de milho híbrido foi o principal fator responsável pelo aumento na produtividade de grãos. Para a obtenção de híbridos é necessária a identificação da população mais promissora para a extração de linhagens. Entre os procedimentos que auxiliam os melhoristas nessa escolha, destaca-se a estimativa de m+a', que corresponde à média de todas as linhagens na geração S".O presente trabalho foi conduzido com os objetivos de estimar a contribuição dos locos em heterozigose (d) e a contribuição dos locos em homozigose (m+a') de caracteres morfofisiológicos para verificar o potencial de híbridos comerciais. Foram utilizadas as gerações F1 e F2 de dez híbridos simples comerciais. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em Lavras, na Fazenda Experimental Vitorinha e em Ijaci, no ano agrícola de 2005/06. Os tratamentos foram avaliados utilizando-se o delineamento em blocos casualizados, com três repetições, sendo os dados tomados em cinco plantas/repetição. Os caracteres avaliados foram: altura de plantas, altura de espiga, número de folhas acima da espiga, diâmetro do colmo, comprimento da espiga, diâmetro da espiga, diâmetro do sabugo, peso da espiga e peso de grãos. Maiores estimativas de m+a' para o caráter peso de grãos foram obtidas para os híbridos A2555 e AG7000, evidenciando o maior potencial para extração de linhagens. A heterose foi responsável, em média, por 69,36 por cento da produção da geração F1. As correlações entre o desempenho da geração F1 e m+a' e F1 e d foram não significativas indicando não haver possibilidade de selecionar populações com base na média da geração F1.

The use of hybrid corn was the main factor in grain yield increase. In order to obtain hybrids, the identification of the best population for inbred lines extraction is needed. The m+a'estimation is an outstanding procedure for such a choice. It stands for the means of all inbred lines in the generation S". This work was carried out with the aim of estimating the contribution of both locus in heterozigosis (d) and locus in homozigosis (m+a') of morphophisiological characters in order to find out the potential of commercial hybrids. Both F1 and F2 generations of ten commercial ordinary hybrids were used. The experiments were carried out in Lavras, at Fazenda Experimental Vitorinha and in Ijaci in the agricultural year of 2005/06. The treatments were evaluated by using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were taken from five plants. The evaluated characteristics were as it follows: plant height, ear height, number of leaves over the ear, colm diameter, ear length, ear diameter, corncob length , ear weight, and grain yield. Higher m+a' estimates for grain yield were reached for both A2555 and AG7000 hybrids, thus showing the best potential for inbred lines extractions. The heterosis was found to account for 69,36 percent of the F1 generation production. The correlations between the F1 generation performance and m+a', and between F1 and d were not significant showing that the population selection of F1 generation means may not be taken as a ground for selecting populations.