A combination of AFLP and SSR markers provides extensive map coverage and identification of homo(eo)logous linkage groups in a sugarcane cultivar.

Sugarcane varieties are complex polyploids carrying in excess of 100 chromosomes and are derived from interspecific hybridisation between the domesticated Saccharum officinarum and the wild relative S. spontaneum. A map was constructed in Denotes variety covered by Australian plant breeding rights., an Australian cultivar, from a segregating F1 population, using 40 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations, five randomly amplified DNA fingerprints (RAF) primers and 72 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers. Using these PCR-based marker systems, we generated 1,365 polymorphic markers, of which 967 (71%) were single-dose (SD) markers. Of these SD 967 markers, 910 were distributed on 116 linkage groups (LGs) with a total map length of 9,058.3 cM. Genome organisation was significantly greater than observed in previously reported maps for Saccharum spp. With the addition of 123 double-dose markers, 36 (3:1) segregating markers and a further five SD markers, 1,074 markers were mapped onto 136 LGs. Repulsion phase linkage detected preferential pairing for 40 LGs, which formed 11 LG pairs and three multi-chromosome pairing groups. Using SSRs, double-dose markers and repulsion phase linkage, we succeeded in forming 127 of the 136 LGs into eight homo(eo)logy groups (HG). Two HGs were each represented by two sets of LGs. These sets of LGs potentially correspond to S. officinarum chromosomes, with each set aligning to either end of one or two larger LGs. The larger chromosomes in the two HGs potentially correspond to S. spontaneum chromosomes. This suggestion is consistent with the different basic chromosome number of the two species that are hybridised to form sugarcane cultivars, S. spontaneum (x=8) and S. officinarum (x=10), and illustrates the structural relationship between the genomes of these two species. The discrepancy of coverage between HGs highlights the difficulty in mapping large parts of the genome.