Molecular markers that make energy cane differ from sugarcane cultivars (Saccharum spp.)

Energy cane has been identified as an ideal crop for the sustainable production of biofuels due to its large amounts of lignocellulosic biomass. However, biochemical and molecular characteristics of energy cane have not yet been reported. The current study investigates polymorphism of simple sequence repeats in expressed sequence tags (Est-SSR loci) of energy cane clones PRBIO 172 and PRBIO 130 and of sugarcane varieties CTC 9001, CTC 9003, and RB935744, which permits a direct association between genes for specific proteins and enzymes and traits of agronomic interest. Genetic identity was observed in SSRs associated with loci EstA-68 and EstB-130 of the three sugarcane varieties and two energy cane clones. The basic contribution of our study was the identification of the polymorphic Est-SRR loci as targets to assess molecular and biochemical divergences of enzymes between sugarcane and energy cane, as well as between the two energy cane clones. •Biochemical and molecular characteristics of energy cane have not yet been reported.•Est-SSR primers to sugarcane were useful to amplify the Est-SSR loci of energy cane.•Polymorphic Est-SRR loci were identified in energy cane clones and sugarcane.•The highest polymorphism was observed in the SSR of the EstB-65 loci.•The lowest genetic identity was observed in the SSR of the EstB-113 loci.