Mapping Genes for Resistance to Pratylenchus penetrans in Miscanthus sinensis

Miscanthus has received widespread attention as a biomass crop for renewable biofuel and bioenergy in temperate environments. However, very few studies have determined the genetics of pest and disease resistance in Miscanthus. Root-lesion nematodes of the genus Pratylenchus cause significant yield losses throughout the world on a wide range of host crop species, including many cereals, potato, banana, alfalfa, and Miscanthus’ close relative, sugarcane. A recent study conducted on Miscanthus field plots in Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia demonstrated the presence of 11 dominant genera of nematodes, including P. penetrans as the most damaging species. The present study involves the identification of Miscanthus genotypes resistant to the root-lesion nematode P. penetrans. For this purpose, 660 M. sinensis individuals grown from seed collected throughout Japan have been selected for screening against root lesion nematodes infection. All the selected Miscanthus genotypes have been genotyped by RAD-seq, producing a total of 24,355 variable SNP markers. Linkage mapping efforts, as well as alignment of RAD tags to the Miscanthus genome when it becomes available, will enable the use of these SNPs in association studies to identify regions of the M. sinensis genome involved in nematode resistance.