Broadening of the genetic base of sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid) is done using wild related species Saccharum spontaneum and Erianthus arundinaceus. Intergeneric crosses of Saccharum with E. arundinaceus as female were made and putative hybrids were clonally maintained. The polymorphism in the chloroplast DNA segments psbC-trnS and trnL intron amplified by polymerase chain reaction and fragmented with restriction enzymes HaeIII and TaqI, respectively could differentiate the Saccharum and Erianthus cytoplasm. One E. arundinaceus (2n = 60) x S. spontaneum (2n = 64) hybrid with chromosome number 2n = 62 was found to have Erianthus cytoplasm, which is a first report.
Sugarcane, chloroplast DNA, Erianthus x Saccharum, psbC-trnS, trnL intron
