PCR Amplification of Sorghum SSR Markers with Switchgrass DNA.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) native to North America has high potential to be developed as a dedicated biofuel crop. The objective of this study was to test PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) simple sequence repeats (SSR) marker primers with switchgrass genomic DNA.  Genomic DNA samples from two sorghum accessions PI550610 and ‘Westland A Line’ and two switchgrass varieties ‘Alamo’, a lowland type and Cave-in-rock, a upland type were isolated using the Plant/Seed DNA Extraction Kit of Zymo Research.  The genomic DNA was screened by PCR using 354 sorghum genomic SSR primer pairs. Amplicons were separated by Li-Cor 4300 DNA Analyzer. Gels were scored as a band being present or absent.  Thirty percent (30%) of the sorghum primers produced reproducible bands for Cave-in-rock DNA and 27% for Alamo, while the primers amplified bands of PI 550610 and Westland A Line with 79% and 85%, respectively. The initial testing results exhibit the transferability of some sorghum SSR markers to the distant-related species switchgrass that currently lacks sufficient SSR DNA markers. Allele number and size of each effective SSR markers will be further examined with more switchgrass varieties.