ISSCT XXVIth CONGRESS Durban, South Africa 29th July - 2nd  August  2007

BIOLOGY COMMISSION Papers & Posters Titles (Click on titles to access Abstracts) BREEDING PAPERS BB2 Agronomic performance of sugarcane families in response to water stress M.A. Silva, R.A.B. Soares, M.G.A. Landell and M.P. Campana  - Brazil BB4 Benchmarking genetic gains from new cultivars in queensland using productivity data M.C. Cox and J.K. Stringer  - Australia BB7 An evaluation of interspecific families of different nobilized groups in contrasting environments for breeding novel sugarcane clones for biomass K. Ramdoyal and M.G.H. Badaloo - Mauritius BB8 Use of predictive statistics for early identification of genetic potential of sugarcane families to produce elite genotypes in advanced trials M.G.H. Badaloo and K. Ramdoyal  - Mauritius BB11 Utilising genetic dissimilarity for planning of crosses in sugarcane J.A. Bressiani, M.I. Zucchi, J.A.G. Da Silva, C.A. Colombo, R. Vencovsky,M.G.A. Landell, W.L. Burnquist and E.C. Ulian - Brasil BB16 Multivariate analysis to characterise cenicaña’s parental collection H. Rangel, C. Moreno, A. Amaya,C. Viveros and J. Victoria - Colombia BB19 Introgression of erianthus for the development of commercial sugarcane cultivars M. Krishnamurthi, K. Shanmugha Sundaram, S. Sekar, S. Rajeswari and P.G. Kawar  - India BB27 Comparisons of sugarcane yields in trials and in commercial fields D. Bissessur, C. Ramnawaz and K. Ramdoyal  - Mauritius BB28 Estimating genetic parameters and the efficacy of molecular breeding for resistance to the stalk borer eldana saccharina M.K. Butterfield, M.G. Keeping and C. Sewpersad  - South Africa BB29 Can flowering in sugarcane be optimised by use of differential declinations for the initiation and development phases? N. Berding, R.S. Pendrigh and V. Dunne BB30 Sharing the vision: a young crop improvement program addressing the challenges of a difficult production environment N. Berding and R.O. Castillo GO TOP BREEDING POSTERS   BBP2 Improving sugar production - Breeding Fiji's future Prema A. Naidu, Ashween N. Ram - Fiji BBP3 Prospects of breeding for low starch content in sugarcane M. Zhou, C.A. Kimbeng, G. Eggleston, J.C. Veremis, K. Gravois - USA BBP4 Selection of multipurpose high fibre sugarcane cultivars M.S. Rao, S. Anusonpompum, P. Weerathaworn - Thailand BBP5 Starch content in different cane cultivars and trash R. Muangmontri, U. Pliansinchai, P. Weerathaworn - Thailand BBP9 Development of effective selection technique through path coefficient analysis in inter-varietal hybrid derivatives of sugarcane (Saccharum Sp. (L)) R.B. Doule, N. Balasundaran - India BBP10 Collection and description wild sugarcane species indigenous to Japan S. Nagatomi, K. Degi - Japan BBP11 Evaluation of three promising Ecuadorian clones in semicommercial trials R.O. Castillo, E. Silva, W. Caicedo - Ecuador BBP12 Comparison of root distribution and root growth direction in two sugarcane hybrids with contrasting tolerance to water stress T. Sakaigaichi, Y. Terajima, A. Sugimoto, S. Irei, S. Fukuhara, M. Matsuoka, K. Ujihara, J. Abe, R. Tajima - Japan BBP13 Breeding for high-biomass sugarcane and its utilization in Japan Y. Terajima, M. Matsuoka, S. Irei, T. Sakagaichi, S. Fukuhara, K. Ujihara, S. Ohara, A. Sugimoto - Japan BBP14 Analysis of genotype-by-environment interaction for sugarcane using the sites regression model (CREG) J.L. Queme, J. Crossa, H. Orozco, M. Melgar - Guatemala   GO TOP ENTOMOLOGY PAPERS BE1 Eldana saccharina Walker (lepidoptera: pyralidae) in sugarcane: impact and implications for the zimbabwe sugar industry A.R.S. Mutambara-Mabveni  - Zimbabwe BE4 Monitoring eldana saccharina and other arthropod pests in South African sugarcane M.J. Way and F.R. Goebel - South Africa BE5 Independent kids - or motherly moms? Implications for integrated pest management of sugarcane insect pests D.E. Conlong, B. Kasl and M. Byrne  - South Africa BE9 Biological control of the sugarcane woolly aphid (ceratovacuna lanigera) in indian sugarcane through the release of predators A.S. Patil, S.B. Magar and V.D. Shinde BE10 Crop loss due to sugarcane stem borers: an overview of the results obtained in South Africa and Reunion F.-R. Goebel and M.J. way  - Reunion BE11 Impact of the lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus, on sugarcane in Tucumán, Argentina A.R. Salvatore, E.M. Acosta, G. Lopez and E. Willink BE12 Advances and challenges in sugarcane pest management: A review of the 2006 Entomology workshop W.H. White, S. Ganeshan, F.-R. Goebel, J.A. Salazar and P.R. Samson BE14 Six armyworm species (lepidoptera: noctuidae) occur in sugarcane fields in mauritius S. Ganeshan BE15 Management of sugarcane armyworms mythimna spp. (lepidoptera: noctuidae) in mauritius S. Ganeshan GO TOP ENTOMOLOGY POSTERS BEP2 Correlation between varietal traits and damage be sugarcane borer (Diatraea spp.) M. Ramon, F. Mauriello, Y. Graterol, M. Perez, R.  Izarraga, C. Mendoza  - Venezuela BEP3 Introgressing new sources of sugarcane borer resistance: can theory become practice? W.H. White, T.L. Tew and E.P. Richard Jr  - USA BEP4 Biology of Micromus igorotus Bank (Neuroptera: Hemerobidae), a potential predator of Ceratovacuna lanigera Zehnt. (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in sugarcane S.B. Magar, V.D. Shinde, A.S. Patil - India BEP5 Natural enemies of sugarcane longhorn stem borer, Dorysthenes buqueti Guerin (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in Thailand P. Sommartya, W. Suasa-ard, A. Puntongcum - Thailand BEP6 Ecology and destructive behaviour of cane boring grub (dorysthenes buqueti guerin) in northeastern Thailand U. Pliansinchai, V. Jarnkoon, S. Siengsri, C. Kaenkong, S. Pangma And P. Weerathaworn - Thailand GO TOP MOLECULAR BIOLOGY PAPERS BM1 The Sucest-Fun Project: identifying genes that regulate sucrose content in sugarcane plants F.S. Papini-Terzi, J.M. Felix, F.R. Rocha,A.J. Waclawovsky, E.C. Ulian,S.M. Chabregas, M.C. Falco, M.Y Nishiyama Jr, R.Z.N. Vêncio,R. Vicentini, M. Menossi and G.M. Souza  - Brasil BM5 Expression profiling of abiotic-stress-inducible genes in sugarcane R.B. Mcqualter and A. Dookun-Saumtally BM6 Development of a dependable microsatellite-based fingerprinting system for sugarcane W. Maccheroni, H. Jordão, R. Degaspari and S. Matsuoka - Brasil BM7 evidence of sugarcane resistance against Mahanarva fimbriolata (Stål, 1854) (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) E.R. Guimarães, M.A. Mutton, M.I.T. Ferro, J.A. Silva, M.J.R. Mutton, D.B. Kalaki and L.L. Madaleno - Brasil BM9 Identification and characterisation of sugarcane proteins required for posttranscriptional gene silencing R. Park, J.-W. Huang and T.E. Mirkov - USA BM10 Understanding the concern about gm crops within the australian population and among sugarcane growers L.M. Romanach, J. Grice, M.K. Wegener and S.E. Morris - Australia BM12 Molecular cloning and characterisation of a non-tir-nbs-lrr type disease resistance gene analogue from sugarcane Q. You-Xiong, L. Jian-Wei, Z. Ji-Sen,R. Miao-Hong, X. Li-Ping and Z. Mu-Qing - BM13 Fifth ISSCT Molecular Biology Workshop report A. Dookun-Saumtally, A. d’hont, E. Mirkov, B. Huckett and E.C. Ulian GO TOP MOLECULAR BIOLOGY POSTERS   BMP1 Micropropagation by direct somatic embryogenesis: is disease elimination also a possibility? S.J. Snyman, T. Van Antwerpen, V. Ramdeen, G.M. Meyer, J.M. Richards, R.S. Rutherford - South Africa BMP2 Photosynthesis and the regulatory role of sucrose and hexose in sugarcane leaves A.J. McCormick, M.D. Cramer. D.A. Watt - South Africa BMP3 Water deficit-related expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in the sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) leaf roll M.I.T. Ferro, R.W. Noda, R.I.D. Tezza, D.F.R. Jovino, K.M. Dabbas, S.M. Zingarette, J. Suzuki - Brazil BMP5 Sugarcane dhurrin: biosynthetic pathway regulation and evolution V.E. De Rosa Jr, F.T.S. Nogueira, P. Mazzafera, M.G.A. Landell, P. Arruda - Brazil BMP6 Transgenic sugarcane with coat protein gene-based silencing shows increased resistance to sugarcane yellow leaf virus (ScYLV) Yun J.Zhu, H. McCafferty, G. Osterman, R. Agbayani, S. Schenck, A. Lehrer, E. Komar, P. Moore - Hawaii, USA GO TOP PATHOLOGY PAPERS BP1 Recent advances in research on Sugarcane yellow leaf virus, the causal agent of Sugarcane yellow leaf P. Rott, T.E. Mirkov, S. Schenck and J.-C. Girard - France BP3 Identification of parents for breeding sugarcane yellow leaf and ratoon stunt resistant cultivars J.C. Comstock, P.Y.P. Tai and J.D. Miller  - USA BP4 Sugarcane mosaic virus complex in Tucuman, Argentina Ramallo, Fontana, Vellice, Perera,Fillipone, Castagnaro - Argentina BP5 Status of sugarcane yellow leaf virus in commercial fields and risk assessment in Guadeloupe C. Edon-Jock, P. Rott, J. Vaillant,E. Fernandez, J.-C. Girard and J.-H. Daugrois - France BP7 Sugarcane leaf yellows phytoplasma in mauritius: molecular characterisation, transmission and alternative hosts N. Joomun, A. Dookun-Saumtally,S. Saumtally and S. Ganeshan - Mauritius BP10 Management of sugarcane cultivars imported into colombia J.I. Victoria, J.C. Angel, M.L. Guzmán and M. Oicatá - Colombia BP11 A review of the 2006 International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists’ Pathology Workshop J.C. Comstock, B.J. Croft, G.G. Rao,S. Saumtally and J.I. Victoria GO TOP PATHOLOGY POSTERS BPP1 Impact of post-harvest delays and temperature on cane deterioration L. A. Perry, C. Hunter, D.A. Watt - South Africa BPP2 Laboratory, glasshouse and field assessments of fungicides to control Ustilago scitaminea, causal organism of sugarcane smut K. McFarlane, D. Moodley, G. Chinnasamy, S.A. McFarlane - South Africa BPP3 Intensive surveys to estimate the incidence and effect of ratoon stunting disease (RSD) in the South African sugar industry S.A. McFarlane, D.S. Subramoney - South Africa BPP4 Occurrence of sugarcane diseases in the germplasm collection at Mitr Phol Sugarcane Research Centre at Chaiyaphum, Thailand K. Jaroenthai, S. Dongchan, S. Anusonpornpurm, U. Plainsinchai - Thailand BPP5 control of ratoon stunt (rsd) through a healthy seedcane program in tucumán, Argentina J. Ramallo, V. Martinez, M. Acosta, C. Funes - Argentina BPP7 Effect of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus infection on sugarcane yield and root system development A.C.M. Vasconcelos, M.C. Goncalves, L.R. Pinto, M.G.A. Landell, D. Perecin - Brazil GO TOP BREEDING PAPERS BB02_abstract AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF SUGARCANE FAMILIES IN RESPONSE TO WATER STRESS By M.A. SILVA1*, R.A.B. SOARES2, M.G.A. LANDELL3 AND M.P. CAMPANA3 1APTA Regional Centro-Oeste, Jaú (SP), Brazil. 2Jalles Machado Sugar Mill S/A, Goianésia (GO), Brazil. 3IAC Sugarcane Center, APTA, Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil. *marcelosilva@aptaregional.sp.gov.br    KEYWORDS: Agronomic traits, Brix, families, seedlings, sugarcane, water stress Abstract  Water deficit is one of the major factors limiting the production of sugarcane, especially in areas where there is a prolonged period of water deficiency, such as the West Central Brazilian region. One way to overcome this problem is to plant varieties that are resistant or tolerant to water stress. An experiment was performed at the Jalles Machado Sugar Mill, located near Goianésia, Goiás State, Brazil, to evaluate the agronomic performance of several sugarcane families. A comparative analysis was carried out among the families under two water regimes, one under regular environmental conditions and another under monthly irrigations during the period of water deficiency. The evaluated material consisted of 25 progenies planted in a factorial design with three replications with 20 plants each. The first ratoon crop was evaluated for four yield components: stalk height, stalk diameter, stalk number and Brix. Stalk number, stalk diameter and stalk height were influenced by water stress conditions during the initial growth phase. For stalk diameter and Brix, water regime had no effect on the average expression of the characters during the growth phase. Some families had high values for stalk diameter, stalk number and stalk height under water stress conditions. These findings provided a good basis for the selection of sugarcane clones with desirable stalk diameter, stalk number and stalk height under drought conditions. It was possible to detect parents with an ability to produce progenies that maintain a good expression for one or more agronomic traits under restricted water availability.  GO TOP BB04_abstract BENCHMARKING GENETIC GAINS FROM NEW CULTIVARS IN QUEENSLAND USING PRODUCTIVITY DATA By M.C. COX and J. K. STRINGER BSES Limited, Private Bag 4, Bundaberg, D.C., Queensland, 4670, Australia mcox@bses.org.au   KEYWORDS: Cultivar Improvement, Productivity Data, BLUP, Genetic Gain.  Abstract Genetic gains from new cultivars, using productivity data from Queensland sugar mills, are estimated by BSES Limited each year. Data from 1980 to 2005 are available and have been analysed to provide the best estimate of the genetic worth of each variety. Restricted maximum likelihood methods were used to provide best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) for the random cultivar effects for cane yield, sucrose content (CCS) and sugar yield. Fixed mill and season (year) effects were also estimated. Linear regression of the cultivar effects and year of release provides estimates of the average productivity increase per year. Further, measuring the rate of genetic gain over successive 30-year periods allows breeders and industry to determine if genetic gain is increasing, static or decreasing. Benchmarking these increases over 30-year periods shows that the rate of increase in sugar yield in Queensland has risen from 119 kg sugar/ha/year in 1989 (cultivars released 1960-1989) to 231 kg sugar/ha/year in 2004 (cultivars released 1975-2004). Similar estimates for cane yield (1.46 t/ha/year) and commercial cane sugar (CCS) (0.033 units/year) for cultivars released in the most recent 30-year period are almost double the estimates in 1989. Such quantitative estimates are important to justify appropriate investment in cultivar improvement and allow targets to be set for the future. Our aim is to achieve greater than 300 kg sugar/ha/year by 2015. An R&D program has been developed and we are currently examining the likely impact of the recent smut incursion to determine what is required to ensure that the current high rates of genetic gains are not eroded and future targets can be met. GO TOP BB7_abstract AN EVALUATION OF INTERSPECIFIC FAMILIES OF DIFFERENT NOBILIZED GROUPS IN CONTRASTING ENVIRONMENTS FOR BREEDING NOVEL SUGARCANE CLONES FOR BIOMASS By K. RAMDOYAL AND M.G.H. BADALOO Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute, MSIRI Réduit, Republic of Mauritius kramdoyal@msiri.intnet.mu   KEYWORDS: biomass, cross evaluation, family x environment interaction, interspecific populations, multivariate analysis, novel varieties.   Abstract The MSIRI breeding program is widening its scope to exploit sugarcane biomass for alternative commodities such as fuel ethanol and electricity to ensure sustainable sugarcane production. In this context, seventeen families comprising different nobilized generations (F1, BC1, BC2) were evaluated in two contrasting environments, sub-humid and very humid, to identify crosses that can produce different types of canes. Most of the female parents were commercial-type clones chosen for incorporating genomes from S. spontaneum. Some 60 seedlings from each of 5 F1, 8 BC1 and 4 BC2 families were planted in each environment in randomized complete block designs with three replicates of 20 progenies per block. The characters evaluated were stalk number, diameter, and height; quality characters were analysed from millable cane stalks. Families differed significantly for all characters within each group and environmental effects were prominent for the quality characters but were not consistent for the morphological traits within the different groups. Family x environment interactions were not important except for Brix and pol percent cane for the F1 group indicating that segregating seedlings need not be replicated in different environments at this stage. High stalk density, small stalk diameter, high vigour, low pol, and high fibre content were typical of the F1 groups. Pol percent cane improved in BC1 and BC2 generations while fibre content and general vigour decreased. Large between-family variances within all groups accounted for moderately high to high narrow-sense heritability estimates for nearly all characters in the very humid zone, but these estimates were moderately low to moderate in the sub-humid one. Bivariate analyses for pol and fibre, based on the sum of ranks statistics (RANK) and the observed frequency of genotypes that transgress pre-established threshold levels simultaneously (FREQ) within each group, were useful in identifying families for selecting different types of genotypes with different levels of pol and fibre. F1 families could easily be identified that produced relatively high frequency of progenies with fibre exceeding 24% whereas BC1 and BC2 families could yield progenies suitable for ethanol and enhanced fibre for energy production. The implication of these observations is discussed within a diversified breeding strategy. GO TOP BB08_abstract USE OF PREDICTIVE STATISTICS FOR EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF GENETIC POTENTIAL OF SUGARCANE FAMILIES TO PRODUCE ELITE GENOTYPES IN ADVANCED TRIALS By M.G.H. Badaloo and K. Ramdoyal Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute, MSIRI, Réduit, Mauritius gbadaloo@msiri.intnet.mu KEYWORDS: Cross prediction, elite genotypes, family performance, genetic variance.   Abstract The identification of crosses that have the highest probability of producing elite genotypes is a desirable feature to enhance the efficiency of sugarcane breeding programs. Studies were carried out with 20 biparental crosses to assess their genetic potential and the application of predictive statistics in the superhumid environment of Mauritius. A number of agro-morphological characters were measured on random samples of progenies at the seedling and the replicated 3rd clonal stages: breeder’s preference (BP), stalk number (SNO), stalk diameter (SDIA), stalk height (SHT), and plot yield (PY). Selection was performed at the 3rd clonal stage based on kiloBrix probability (field Brix x plot weight) on cumulative plant cane and first ratoon crops with respect to five commercial controls. The families differed significantly and the between families variation was significantly higher than the within family variation for most traits. At the seedling stage, narrow-sense heritability ranged from low to moderate (0.16 – 0.62) but improved in the replicated trial (0.67 – 0.95). Three univariate methods were examined: the predicted proportion of elite genotypes (PROB), the family mean (MEAN), and the observed proportion of elite genotypes that transgress set values (OBS). There were highly significant positive correlations among the three predictive statistics indicating their reliability in predicting potential of crosses (r = 0.58 – 1.00). The best univariate predictors were MEAN and PROB for BP and PY at the seedling stage. Family ranking, based on BP at the seedling stage, is a reliable predictor of PY at the 3rd clonal stage. Two bivariate methods, sum of ranks (RANK) and the observed frequency of genotypes that transgress set targets simultaneously (FREQ) were equally useful in identifying the desirable crosses (r = -0.77 – -0.93). Highest correlation coefficients between the RANK and FREQ statistics at the seedling stage were obtained for BP-PY (-0.92**) and BP-SNO (-0.93**). In addition, the multivariate RANK statistics, based on simultaneous ranking for all five characters at the seedling stage, was reliable in identifying the best three crosses that ultimately produced 82% of elite genotypes for testing in final stages of selection. GO TOP BB11_abstract Utilising genetic dissimilarity for planning of crosses IN SUGARCANE By J.A. Bressiani1; M.I. Zucchi2; J.A.G. da Silva3; C.A. Colombo2; R. Vencovsky4;  M.G.A. Landell2; W.L. Burnquist5; E.C. Ulian6 1 Canavialis, Brazil; 2 Agronomic Institute of Campinas, Brazil; 3 Texas A&M University, USA;  4  Luiz de Queiroz Agronomy School, Piracicaba, Brazil; 5 Canavieira Technology Center, Piracicaba, Brazil; 6 Monsanto of Brazil. jose.bressiani@canavialis.com.br   KEYWORDS: Microsatellite; Sugarcane; Molecular markers; Genetic dissimilarity; Heterosis; Simple sequence repeats   Abstract One of the most important sugarcane breeding issues is choice of parental genotypes. Breeders have concentrated efforts in the search of the best method of parental characterization, both per se and by analysis of their progeny. They also have estimated heritabilities, general and specific combining abilities, coefficient of parentage and, more recently, genetic dissimilarity measures using molecular markers. In this direction, we evaluated genetic relationships among a group of 45 parents, taken at random from the available parental genotypes in Camamú, BA, Brazil. We estimated genetic dissimilarities using the Jaccard similarity index and 206 alleles obtained from 20 microsatellite loci (SSR). Sixty-four biparental crosses were planted in a field trial. The families, and the parents of the families, were evaluated for height, stalk diameter, stalk number, Brix, tonnes of cane, tonnes of Brix, and pithiness in a three-replicate experiment with 56 seedlings per plot. We calculated plant cane heterosis and correlations using genetic dissimilarities among the family data. The results suggest that use of SSR genomic molecular markers as an auxiliary tool has potential for prediction of performance of sugarcane crosses for stalk height, stalk number, Brix, tonnes of cane, and tonnes of Brix. GO TOP BB16_abstract MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS TO CHARACTERIZE CENICAÑA’S PARENTAL COLLECTION By H. RANGEL, C. MORENO, A. AMAYA, C. VIVEROS and J. VICTORIA CENICAÑA, Cali, Colombia harangel@cenicana.org  KEYWORDS: Germplasm bank, multivariate analysis, genetic variability. Abstract There are 1174 clones in Cenicaña’s parental collection which are used to preserve genetic variability and create new combinations. Each clone is replicated three times in plots of one row, 5 m long. The objectives of this research were to use statistical analyses to characterize the collection and to divide the clone population into subsets or genetic groups. Through the characterization the genetic variability for 25 quantitative and 4 qualitative variables was determined. Using multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis, canonical discriminant analysis, cluster analysis and multiple correspondence analysis, six groups of cultivars with similar characteristics within a group were found. According to the principal component analysis, the first five components explained 66.5% of the total variability. The cluster analysis accounted for 76.2% of the variation in the data with six groups. Two canonical variables related to quality of the soluble solids and initial development of the crop generated most of the differences between groups. Population improvement is conducted using such groups to explore combinations for specific environments according to the agro- ecological zones for the sugarcane crop in the Cauca Valley, Colombia. GO TOP BB19_abstract Introgression of Erianthus for the Development of Commercial Sugarcane Cultivars By