New Sugarcane Microsatellites and Target Region Amplification Polymorphism Primers Designed from Candidate Genes Related to Disease Resistance

Many types of molecular marker systems have been developed to detect and map genomic regions related to disease resistance in many major agronomic crops. However, in sugarcane, molecular marker systems for genetic mapping of genomic regions associated to disease resistance is not yet established mainly due to its complex polyploid genome. In addition, there is a lack of information to develop molecular marker systems (e.g., TRAP and EST–SSR) targeting specific genic regions related to disease resistance. In the present work, a set of 10 EST–SSR primer pairs and 16 fixed TRAP primers designed from sugarcane-derived sequence related to disease resistance are reported. Most of the primers were amplifiable and polymorphic in the sugarcane genotypes tested. In addition, these set of primers were also tested in sorghum, Miscanthus and a cross between sugarcane commercial varieties showing good cross-transferability. This new set of primers, in particular the TRAP ones, will be useful in genetic mapping of genome regions related to disease resistance in sugarcane and related genera.