Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Forage Performance and Detection of Marker Trait Associations with Potential for Napier Grass (Cenchrus Purpureus) Improvement

Ermias Habte
,
Meki S. Muktar
ORCID logo ,
Asebe Abdena
,
Jean Hanson
,
Alieu M. Sartie
,
Alemayehu Teressa Negawo
,
Juarez Machado
,
Franscisco ledo
,
Chris S. Jones
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 14 February 2020 / Approved: 15 February 2020 / Online: 15 February 2020 (15:01:37 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Habte, E.; Muktar, M.S.; Abdena, A.; Hanson, J.; Sartie, A.M.; Negawo, A.T.; Machado, J.C.; Ledo, F.J.S.; Jones, C.S. Forage Performance and Detection of Marker Trait Associations with Potential for Napier Grass (Cenchrus purpureus) Improvement. Agronomy 2020, 10, 542. Habte, E.; Muktar, M.S.; Abdena, A.; Hanson, J.; Sartie, A.M.; Negawo, A.T.; Machado, J.C.; Ledo, F.J.S.; Jones, C.S. Forage Performance and Detection of Marker Trait Associations with Potential for Napier Grass (Cenchrus purpureus) Improvement. Agronomy 2020, 10, 542.

Abstract

The evaluation of forage crops for adaptability and performance across production systems and environments is one of the main strategies used to improve forage production. To enhance the genetic resource base and identify traits responsible for increased feed potential of Napier grass, forty-five genotypes from EMBRAPA, Brazil, were evaluated for forage biomass yield and feed nutritional quality in a replicated trial under wet and dry season conditions in Ethiopia. The results revealed significant variation in forage yield and feed nutritional qualities among the genotypes and between the wet and dry seasons. Feed fibre components were lower in the dry season while crude protein, in vitro organic matter digestibility and metabolizable energy were higher. Based on the cumulative biomass yield and metabolizable energy yield, top performing genotypes were identified that are candidates for future forage improvement studies. Furthermore, the marker-trait association study identified diagnostic SNP and SilicoDArT markers and potential candidate genes that could differentiate high biomass yielding and high metabolizable energy genotypes in the collection.

Keywords

Napier grass; elephant grass; EMBRAPA; forage yield; feed quality; marker trait association

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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