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

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. 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