Use of AFLP marker system on sugarcane somaclones to study their resistance to rust

AFLPs (amplified fragment length polymorphism) was carried out from genomic DNA of five rust resistant sugar cane somaclons and their susceptible donor, Saccharum officinarum var B 4362, using three combinations of primers (EcoRI/aca: MseI/acc; EcoRI/aca: MseI/atg and EcoRI/aca: MseI/agg). Six polymorphic bands were obtained, two of these only appeared in the resistant genotypes, which are probably DNA sequences, related to rust resistance locus. These fragments have been cloned to study their nucleotide sequence and to investigate their roll in resistance mechanism develop by these mutants during Puccinia melanocephala infection. Key words: molecular markers, Puccinia. melanocephala, Saccharum