Confirmation of Genetic Diversity in Jatropha Germplasm

US-based SG Biofuels, Inc. has confirmed significant genetic diversity in its Jatropha curcas germplasm collection based on the genetic analysis of over two million Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers.

In contrast to previous findings pointing to a narrow genetic base for Jatropha curcas germplasm, the present molecular studies suggest that its genetic variability could be comparable to that of corn and other domesticated crops and the genetically diverse materials would be suited for breeding toward significant yield improvement. Increasing the yield of Jatropha curcas can further boost its biofuel output. The finding also means that breeders could further exploit hybrid vigor by crossing genetically diverse parental materials in order to deliver elite hybrid planting materials. SGB has been generating hybrid varieties of Jatropha and current trials in Brazil, India and Central America have indicated promising results for its first-generation hybrids.

SGB is a bioenergy crop company that delivers high performance solutions for the renewable fuel, biomass and chemical markets. The company has been implementing high-throughput technologies for its molecular and genetic studies. It is currently embarking on a large-scale Jatropha genome sequencing program that will ultimately assign genetic markers to valuable agronomic traits and plant attributes in order to speed up the genetic improvement of its elite hybrid cultivars. In another technological feat, SGB scientists have developed a state of the art genotyping platform that enables rapid and precise DNA barcoding of parental and hybrid lines with unique digital sequence identifiers.