Peroxidase isozyme polymorphism in popular sugarcane cultivars

Abstract

Peroxidase isozyme was used to identify the variation among popular sugarcane cultivars of South India including the somaclones developed against biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Electrophoretic polymorphism was surveyed for 12 diverse sugarcane cultivars and 11 somaclones. A total of 145 bands were scored with an average of 6.3 bands per cultivar. Presence of more number of isozymes reflected the genetic complexity of the genus Saccharum, a polyploidy of the tribe Andropogoneae. Variation in some of the somaclones was observed, but it was less polymorphic compared to other sugarcane cultivars studied. Peroxidase isozyme diversity among these variants in terms of similarity indices may be useful in identifying diverse cross-combinations for deriving hybrids of sugarcane.