Collection, Characterization, and Diversity Analysis of New Wild Sugarcane Germplasm from Southeastern Yunnan Province, China

Sugarcane genetic resources have made unprecedented contributions to the sustainability of sugarcane industry by developing elite sugarcane varieties. The wild germplasm resources significantly diminished in China over time and threatened by local extinction owing to anthropogenic activities, especially in the Yunnan Province. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the diversity of wild sugarcane germplasm resources to identify superior genetic materials for future sugarcane breeding programs. The study included a collection of several wild sugarcane species including 62 of Erianthus arundinaceus, 82 of Erianthus rockii, 57 of Saccharum spontaneum, 77 of Miscanthus sinensis, and 59 of Erianthus fulvus, from varying altitudes (288–2122 m above sea level). The study further extended the latitude range of E. rockii, E. fulvus, and M. sinensis, which already exist in the National Nursery of Sugarcane Germplasm Resources (CNNSGR), Kaiyuan, Yunnan, China. The results revealed a considerable morphological variation among the Saccharum germplasms, with a variation coefficient ranging from 42.73 to 61.06% and the mean value exceeding 50%. The highest positive correlations were observed between stalk length and internode length. However, juice Brix did not correlate with any of other studied traits. Additionally, the cluster analysis identified superior accessions such as S. spontaneum (Sp2022-22, Sp2022-27, and Sp2022-31), M. sinensis (Ma2022-17 and Ma2022-66), E. fulvus (Ef2022-51 and Ef2022-30), and E. arundinaceus (Ea2022-50 and Ea2022-29) with significantly higher yield and quality characteristics which could be recommended for further utilization in future research. Moreover, these findings further enrich the genetic diversity of E. rockii, E. fulvus, and M. sinensis from previously unexplored altitudes.