Evaluation of genomic synteny between sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum): comparision of genes involved in a QTL for Brix in sorghum to syntenic region in sugarcane

Abstract

The sugarcane is a polyploid and aneuploid species, which makes its genetics and genomics research a challenge. Its cultivation places Brazil as the largest producer, followed by India and China. Nowadays sugarcane is a crop of major economic importance, a fact attributed to its derivatives, sugar and ethanol, that are responsible for the large financial support and scientific research. Given the advances that can be achieved in a further study of a specific region of the genome, this project is based in the premise of a high syntenic relationship existent between sorghum and sugarcane genomes for the detection of genes for Brix (soluble solid content) present in a QTL (quantitative trait loci). The use of BACs (bacterial artificial chromosome) as a molecular tool for making sugarcane into a "haploid" organism, where each allele can be studied individually, enables the transfer and application of genetic and molecular information derived from sorghum to the genome of the sugarcane, bringing significant practical implications in the improvement of the species. (AU)