Molecular and embryological analyses of rare sexual plant in Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.)

Buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) is an important forage grass, which reproduces predominantly through apomixis. Apomixis in C. ciliaris limits possibilities of genetic improvement of this species by hybridization and studying phylogenetic relationship. Obligate apomictic and sexual plants are required for the development of mapping population for genetic studies in apomixis. We identified an obligate sexual plant of C. ciliaris using pistil-clearing technique and DNA profile of this rare sexual plant was developed using RAPD technique. A 10-mer primer OPJ-13 produced a plant-specific band of about 0.22 kb, while OPP-14 primer produced specific band of about 1.2 kb. The DNA profile can be used for identification of this plant and may be useful in the genetic studies involving this plant as a parent.