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Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the main cereal crops grown around the world and is widely used as food, feed and raw material in various industries. However, the crop is sensitive to weather conditions, and this causes large variations in yield between crop seasons. Suboptimal irrigation can be used to secure reasonable yields with increased water productivity. For maize grown offseason in the Cerrado biome of Brazil, there is little knowledge about the benefits of suboptimal irrigation. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of different irrigation amounts and two Brachiaria cultivars intercropped with maize on maize grain yield, biomass production for silage and water productivity in the second crop season. The study was conducted at Embrapa Milho e Sorgo Experimental Station, Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil, in 2018 and 2019. Six irrigation levels were obtained by using a line-source sprinkler irrigation system. The irrigation levels used ranged from 94% to 11% of the cumulative reference evapotranspiration (ET0) in 2018, and from 90% to 34% of ET0 in 2019. Suboptimal irrigation above a certain level did not cause a significant decrease in silage biomass (59% and 71% of the ET0, in 2018 and 2019, respectively) and grain productivity (48% and 60% of the ET0, in 2018 and 2019, respectively). Additionally, there was an increase in crop water productivity and irrigation water productivity, for biomass of both silage and grains. The results demonstrate the potential of suboptimal irrigation as a strategy to reduce water resource usage while maintaining acceptable productivity levels.

Artificial hybridization plays a fundamental role in plant breeding programs since it generates new genotypic combinations that can result in desirable phenotypes. Depending on the species and mode of reproduction, controlled crosses may be challenging, and contaminating individuals can be introduced accidentally. In this context, the identification of such contaminants is important to avoid compromising further selection cycles, as well as genetic and genomic studies. The main objective of this work was to propose an automated multivariate methodology for the detection and classification of putative contaminants, including apomictic clones, self-fertilized individuals, half-siblings and full contaminants, in biparental polyploid progenies of tropical forage grasses. We established a pipeline to identify contaminants in genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) data encoded as allele dosages of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers by integrating principal component analysis (PCA), genotypic analysis (GA) measures based on Mendelian segregation and clustering analysis (CA). The combination of these methods allowed the correct identification of all contaminants in all simulated progenies and the detection of putative contaminants in three real progenies of tropical forage grasses, providing an easy and promising methodology for the identification of contaminants in biparental progenies of tetraploid and hexaploid species. The proposed pipeline was made available through the polyCID Shiny app and can be easily coupled with traditional genetic approaches, such as linkage map construction, thereby increasing the efficiency of breeding programs.

The world population is expected to be larger and wealthier over the next few decades and will require more animal products, such as milk and beef. Tropical regions have great potential to meet this growing global demand, where pasturelands play a major role in supporting increased animal production. Better forage is required in consonance with improved sustainability as the planted area should not increase and larger areas cultivated with one or a few forage species should be avoided. Although, conventional tropical forage breeding has successfully released well-adapted and high-yielding cultivars over the last few decades, genetic gains from these programs have been low in view of the growing food demand worldwide. To guarantee their future impact on livestock production, breeding programs should leverage genotyping, phenotyping, and envirotyping strategies to increase genetic gains. Genomic selection (GS) and genomewide association studies play a primary role in this process, with the advantage of increasing genetic gain due to greater selection accuracy, reduced cycle time, and increased number of individuals that can be evaluated. This strategy provides solutions to bottlenecks faced by conventional breeding methods, including long breeding cycles and difficulties to evaluate complex traits. Initial results from implementing GS in tropical forage grasses (TFGs) are promising with notable improvements over phenotypic selection alone. However, the practical impact of GS in TFG breeding programs remains unclear. The development of appropriately sized training populations is essential for the evaluation and validation of selection markers based on estimated breeding values. Large panels of single-nucleotide polymorphism markers in different tropical forage species are required for multiple application targets at a reduced cost. In this context, this review highlights the current challenges, achievements, availability, and development of genomic resources and statistical methods for the implementation of GS in TFGs. Additionally, the prediction accuracies from recent experiments and the potential to harness diversity from genebanks are discussed. Although, GS in TFGs is still incipient, the advances in genomic tools and statistical models will speed up its implementation in the foreseeable future. All TFG breeding programs should be prepared for these changes. Made available in DSpace on 2021-08-10T02:06:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Genomic-selection-tropical.pdf: 2481038 bytes, checksum: c1c166bd9f912ae4d0970aee8c98aa94 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021

In Brazil, livestock activity is affected by the seasonality of forage supply, which depends on the distribution of rainfall. The use of silage is one of the strategies to solve the problem during the annual dry season. The objective of this study was to use modeling to assess the productivity and quality of the maize silage in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The CSM-CERES-Maize model was used to simulate maize silage production in 18 counties, at 52 sowing dates distributed throughout the year, with and without the use of irrigation. Absence of rainfall during the harvest period was also used as criterion to define the best sowing date in each county. In general, the best sowing dates were concentrated in October and February, respectively, for rainfed water supply and irrigated condition. The maize silage productivity under rainfed condition presented greater interannual variability and lower quality in comparison to that obtained under irrigated conditions. Under optimal soil-water conditions, climatic factors such as temperature and solar radiation are determinant to crop performance. Made available in DSpace on 2022-01-05T13:01:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sowing-period.pdf: 1339923 bytes, checksum: b623b428844aa371b5cf83010b2fa181 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021

High seed yield is a fundamental characteristic of apomictic and sexual hybrids of the genus Urochloa P. Beauv. (syn. Brachiaria (Trin.) Griseb.). It has been suggested that there is an association between polyploidy, the presence of meiotic irregularities, and low seed formation in this genus. The present study aimed to correlate these characteristics in Urochloa polyploid sexual interspecific hybrids in relation to the production of pure seeds. Segregational and non-segregational abnormalities were shown to led to cause the formation of tetrads with micronuclei, microcytes, polyads, and anomalous end products. The correlation between the percentage of meiotic abnormalities and the total production of pure seeds was negative and significant. To our knowledge, this is the first research with sexual polyploid hybrids from Urochloa and is relevant to identify hybrids with less frequent meiotic abnormalities and higher seed yield, with promising female parents for the breeding program.

Monitoring biomass of forages in experimental plots and livestock farms is a time-consuming, expensive, and biased task. Thus, non-destructive, accurate, precise, and quick phenotyping strategies for biomass yield are needed. To promote high-throughput phenotyping in forages, we propose and evaluate the use of deep learning-based methods and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)-based RGB images to estimate the value of biomass yield by different genotypes of the forage grass species Panicum maximum Jacq. Experiments were conducted in the Brazilian Cerrado with 110 genotypes with three replications, totaling 330 plots. Two regression models based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) named AlexNet and ResNet18 were evaluated, and compared to VGGNet—adopted in previous work in the same thematic for other grass species. The predictions returned by the models reached a correlation of 0.88 and a mean absolute error of 12.98% using AlexNet considering pre-training and data augmentation. This proposal may contribute to forage biomass estimation in breeding populations and livestock areas, as well as to reduce the labor in the field.

Forage legumes from the genus Stylosanthes are frequently used as pasture cover crops with positive effects in controlling weeds, soil fertility and crop yield while providing livestock feed and additional income for farmers through seed production. Stylosanthes guianensis is native to South America and extensively grown worldwide. Therefore, efforts to improve this species may help the sustainability of livestock production in pasture areas managed with this legume. We evaluated 12 sister lines spread through seeds under clippings in the western Amazon region, Brazil. The results were analysed using the methodology of mixed models. Five sister lines mixed with the grass Brachiaria brizantha were evaluated under continuous grazing for two consecutive years. We estimated the genetic and phenotypic parameters of the forage legume and then identified and validated, under grazing, the sister lines most promising to be used in an area of the western Brazilian Amazon. Total dry‐matter yield, soil coverage, height before clipping, height after clipping and seed production showed low‐to‐moderate broad‐sense heritability (0.1–0.5), contrasting with reduced genetic variability for the characters associated with nutritive value. The S. guianensis lines had, on average, 278 g/kg of crude protein in the dry matter of the leaves and 200 g/kg in the stems, suggesting that the use of this species may help to overcome the low protein content of tropical pastures. There are promising stylo lines that can be used in mixed pastures in humid tropical regions.

Urochloa (syn. Brachiaria) cultivars represent 85% of tropical pastures occupying 114 million hectares of cultivated grasslands in Brazil. Despite the commercial importance of the Urochloa species, low molecular information is available and is far from saturating the genome. Investigating and obtaining more markers associated to characteristics of difficult and late expression can benefit in accelerating breeding programs of more important species. Aiming to increase the number of molecular markers, genic microsatellite markers were obtained from transcriptome of U. decumbens and analyzed for their cross-amplification to U. brizantha, U. humidicola and U. ruziziensis. Genic microsatellite markers were isolated from a transcriptome obtained of U. decumbens “Basilisk” roots. Specific primers were designed for one hundred loci, and 32 were polymorphic presenting polymorphism informative content values ranging of 0.12 to 0.81 (mean 0.54). Amplified microsatellite regions yield an average of 4.44 alleles per locus (ranging of 1 to 13). Cross-amplification to U. brizantha, U. humidicola and U. ruziziensis were successfully performed, although the number of the loci transferred varied among them. Multiple Correspondence Analysis revealed three distinct groups separating accessions and species. Four genetic markers presented high potential to distinguish sexual and apomictic accessions of Urochloa and must be further investigated. The genic markers identified in this study are the first set of expressed sequence tagged molecular markers for Urochloa species.

Atualmente, desenvolvimento da tecnologia de análise genômica de alta resolução e alto rendimento tem a capacidade de gerar informações sobre milhões de pares de bases em um único ensaio, permitindo a detecção de variação em um único nucleotídeo de uma sequência de DNA. Este contexto possibilitou o surgimento de novas abordagens para a seleção assistida por marcadores, dentre elas os estudos de associação genômica ampla (GWAS), que visam o mapeamento genético por meio das associações entre os locos e a característica fenotípica na população e buscam detectar efeitos dos genes sobre os valores genéticos dos indivíduos; e a seleção genômica ampla (GWS), que detecta genótipos favoráveis por meio de informações genotípicas para inferir sobre os valores fenotípicos futuros, ou valores genômicos. Estas técnicas têm sido exploradas por meio de estudos de simulação e aplicação nos programas de melhoramento tradicionais para diversas culturas. Por outro lado, sua aplicação no melhoramento de forrageiras é restrita, especialmente no Brasil, porém com resultados promissores. Neste contexto, este estudo traz uma abordagem conceitual do tema sob a visão da genética quantitativa, buscando evidenciar sua aplicação no melhoramento genético de forrageiras. The development of high-resolution and high-throughput genomic analysis technology now is enable to generate information about millions of base pairs in only one test, allowing detection of single nucleotide variation in a DNA sequence. This context enabled the emergence of new approaches to marker-assisted selection, among them the Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), which aim at genetic mapping through associations between loci and phenotypic characteristics in the population and seek to detect effects of genes on the genetic values of individuals; and Genome-Wide Selection (GWS), which detects favorable genotypes through genotypic information to infer future phenotypic values, or genomic values. These techniques have been explored through simulation studies and application in traditional breeding programs in various cultures. On the other hand, its application in forages breeding is restricted, especially in Brazil, but with promising results. In this context, this study brings a conceptual approach of the subject from the perspective of quantitative genetics, seeking to highlight its application in the forages breeding. Made available in DSpace on 2020-01-07T18:13:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Selecaogenomicaampla2019.pdf: 384998 bytes, checksum: 9def860cdaa0de9e79ab2a7e3a155aa3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019

The autotetraploid forage Congo signal grass (Brachiaria ruziziensis) is an important component in the Brachiaria breeding programme. As with other tropical forage grass species, the association between flowering and seed yield components, the mode of inheritance and the effects of population structure on phenotypic breeding are lacking. Seventeen characteristics evaluated in 59 half-sib progeny of seven subpopulations were analysed using a mixed model methodology. According to the commonality analysis, the total seed yield (0.67) and number of days to flowering (0.22) had a greater influence on the filled-seed yield. The flowering synchrony, total number of panicles, filled-seed yield, green matter yield and dry matter yield presented statistically significant additive genetic variance between and within the subpopulations. The QST estimates ranged from 0.09 for the flowering synchrony index to 0.31 for the filled-seed yield. The effects of population structure and its use in breeding programmes are further discussed.

The silvopastoral system is a viable technological alternative to extensive cattle grazing, however, for it to be successful, forage grass genotypes adapted to reduced light need to be identified. The objective of this study was to select progenies of Panicum maximum tolerant to low light conditions for use in breeding programs and to study the genetic control and performance of some traits associated with shade tolerance. Six full-sib progenies were evaluated in full sun, 50% and 70% of light reduction in pots and subjected to cuttings. Progeny genotypic values (GV) increased with light reduction in relation to plant height (H) and specific leaf area (SLA). The traits total dry mass accumulation (DM) and leaf dry mass accumulation (LDM) had GV higher in 50% shade and intermediate in 70% shade. The GV of tiller number (TIL) and root dry mass accumulation (RDM) decreased with light reduction. The highest positive correlations were obtained for the traits H and RDM with SLA and DM; the highest negative correlations were between TIL and SLA and RDM, and H and LDM. The progenies showed higher tolerance to 50% light reduction and, among them, two stood out and will be used in breeding programs. It was also found that it is not necessary to evaluate some traits under all light conditions. All traits had high broad sense heritability and high genotypic correlation between progenies in all light intensities. There is genetic difference among the progenies regarding the response to different light intensities, which will allow selection for shade tolerance A implantação de sistemas silvipastoris é uma alternativa tecnológica à criação extensiva de gado e, para que haja sucesso, é necessário identificar genótipos de gramíneas forrageiras adaptados à redução de luminosidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi selecionar progênies de P. maximum, tolerantes à redução de luminosidade, para uso em programas de melhoramento, e estudar o controle genético e o desempenho de alguns caracteres associados à tolerância. Foram avaliadas seis progênies de irmãos completos, a sol pleno, a 50% e a 70% de redução da luminosidade, em vasos e sob cortes. Os valores genotípicos (VG) das progênies, em relação à altura das plantas (ALT) e à área foliar específica (AFE), aumentaram com a redução da luminosidade. Para os caracteres acúmulo de massa seca total (MS) e massa verde de lâminas foliares (MSVLF), esses VG foram maiores, com 50%, e intermediários, com 70% de redução da luminosidade. Para o número de perfilhos (PERF) e para o acúmulo de massa seca de raízes (MSR), os VG das progênies diminuíram com a redução de luminosidade. As correlações mais altas e positivas foram obtidas para os caracteres ALT e MSR com AFE e MS; as mais altas e negativas foram entre PERF com AFE e MSR, e ALT com MSVLF. As progênies avaliadas apresentaram maior tolerância a 50% de redução de luminosidade, das quais duas destacaram-se e deverão ser usadas no melhoramento. Evidenciou-se, também, que não é necessária a avaliação de algumas características em todos os níveis de luminosidade. Todos os caracteres apresentaram alta herdabilidade no sentido amplo e alta correlação genotípica entre as progênies, ao longo dos níveis de luminosidade. Há uma diferença genética entre as progênies, quanto à resposta aos diversos níveis de luminosidade, o que permitirá a seleção para a tolerância ao sombreamento

The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity and the relative importance of morphological traits for the study of genetic diversity among Stylosanthes capitata genotypes. Ten open-pollinated families (297-2, 49-5, 1064-4, 49-4, 1095-5, 141-6, 1064-6, 297-6, 625-3, and 111-3), previously selected by the Embrapa Gado de Corte improvement program, and the Campo Grande cultivar as control were evaluated. A completely randomized design consisting of four repetitions was used. The following morphological traits were studied: type of growth, length, width and length-to-width ratio of the central and lateral leaflets, plant height, stem length, and number of secondary ramifications. Mahalanobis generalized distance was calculated using the phenotypic means for each trait and the matrix of residual variances and covariances. Once the dissimilarity matrix was obtained, the families and Campo Grande cultivar were grouped using Ward’s method. Canonical variables were also analyzed using the phenotypic mean of the traits studied and the matrix of residual variances and covariances. Cluster analysis by Ward’s method permitted to divide the 11 genotypes into five groups. Canonical analysis was efficient since it permitted to summarize the total variation observed in the nine morphological traits into only three canonical variables, which accounted for 81.65% of the total variation in the data. The importance of the traits for clustering was also analyzed. Central leaflet width, length-to-width ratio of the central and lateral leaflets, lateral leaflet width and secondary ramifications were the most important traits for the evaluation of genetic diversity among Stylosanthes capitata genotypes.

Tetraploid Brachiaria ruziziensis genotypes which reproduce sexually are essential for the breeding of other species of the Brachiaria genus which reproduce by apomixis. Aiming at studying the available phenotypic and genetic variability in the breeding population of B. ruziziensis, it was estimated the parameters heritability and genetic and phenotypic correlations between the traits associated with flowering, and the traits responsible for forage yield and nutritional quality. Seventeen traits in 1180 individuals from 59 open pollinated families were studied, and the data were analyzed by mixed model methods. Individuals with sparse flowering presented higher breeding values for total dry matter, yield, and total number of panicles per plant than individuals with early or late flowering. Considering breeding population differences on flowering behavior, on individual narrow sense heritability and on genetic correlations between flowering, agronomic quality and nutritional quality traits have to be considered in intrapopulation breeding and in intrapopulational recurrent selection.

Half-sib progenies of congo signal grass (Brachiaria ruziziensis Germain & Evrard, syn.: B. eminii, Urochloa ruziziensis) were analysed using a mixed model methodology. The objective was to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters, predict individual genetic values, estimate correlations between characters associated with biomass production and forage nutritive value and use this information to determine the economic weights to compare three multiplicative selection indices. Individual narrow-sense heritabilities corrected for inbreeding varied from 0.14 to 0.91 for characters associated with biomass production and from 0.04 a 0.24 for nutritional value characters. The correlations among characters associated with annual biomass production were of high magnitude. In contrast, biomass production characters were negatively correlated with crude protein, acid detergent fibre and lignin. Total dry matter yield, crude protein and regrowth ability were weighted separately in evaluations during wet and dry season or annually in selection indices. Index that considered characters annually resulted in better distribution of forage production along the year than indices that separated wet and dry season production.

Taxonomically Stylosanthes guianensis is divided in four botanical varieties: var. guianensis, var. pauciflora, var. canescens and var. microcephala. The 'BRS Bela' cultivar is one of the two cultivars of this forage legume registered on Brazil, it is made up of a physical mixture of seeds of four accessions of unknown botanical varieties. The objective in this research was to characterize the genetic variability among four accessions of the cultivar 'BRS Bela' and to determine its genetic relationship with others accessions of known botanical varieties, using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Ten decamer primers were evaluated in 36 accessions, from the germoplasm bank of Embrapa Beef Cattle, of S. guianensis: 14 of the botanical variety pauciflora, 11 of var. guianensis, four of var. canescens, three of var. microcephala and the four accessions of cultivar 'BRS Bela'. The amplified bands were analyzed as binary data and a matrix of genetic similarity was generated using the coefficient of Jaccard. Genetic dissimilarity data were utilized for clustering the accessions by not weighted pair-group method with arithmetical average (UPGMA) and Tocher methods. The mean genetic similarity within of the botanic varieties was of 0.72 for var. pauciflora, 0.63 for var. microcephala, 0.62 for var. canescens and 0.46 for var. guianensis. Among the four accessions of cultivar 'BRS Bela' this mean was 0.62. Both methods of clustering generated similar results and showed a tendency to cluster the accessions of the same botanical variety. The accessions of cultivar 'BRS Bela' were grouped with accessions of botanical variety guianensis. The results show that there is genetic variability within of the botanical varieties of S. guianensis and among the accessions of the cultivar 'BRS Bela' and that there is a tendency to the clustering by botanical variety.

Brazil has the largest commercial beef cattle herd and is the main beef exporter in the world. Cultivated pastures are the basis for the Brazilian beef production, and occupy an area of 101.4 million hectares. However, very few forage cultivars are commercially available, and the majority of these are of apomictic reproduction, thus genetically homogeneous. Tropical forage breeding is at its infancy, but much investment and efforts have been applied in the last three decades and some new cultivars have been released. In this paper, origin of different species, modes of reproduction, breeding programs and targets are discussed and the resulting new cultivars released are presented.

Brachiaria humidicola (Rendle) Schweick. is a warm-season grass commonly used as forage in the tropics. Accessions of this species were collected in eastern Africa and massively introduced into South America in the 1980s. Several of these accessions form a germplasm collection at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. However, apomixis, ploidy, and limited knowledge of the genetic basis of this germplasm collection have constrained breeding activities. The objectives of this work were to identify genetic variability in the Brazilian B. humidicola germplasm collection using microsatellite markers and to compare the results with information on the following: (1) collection sites of the accessions; (2) reproductive mode and ploidy levels; and (3) genetic diversity revealed by morphological traits. The evaluated germplasm population is highly structured into four major groups. The sole sexual accession did not group with any of the clusters. Genetic dissimilarities did not correlate with either geographic distances or genetic distances inferred from morphological descriptors. Additionally, the genetic structure identified in this collection did not correspond to differences in ploidy level. Alleles exclusive to either sexual or apomictic accessions were identified, suggesting that further evaluation of the association of these loci with apospory should be carried out.

Stylosanthes SW. é um gênero de leguminosa tropical com grande potencial de uso, como forrageira, no Brasil. Em geral, esse gênero possui dormência em suas sementes, dificultando a germinação uniforme, importante para o estabelecimento da pastagem. Vários trabalhos têm explorado o uso de temperaturas elevadas, com bons resultados não só na superação da dormência em sementes de forrageiras como na erradicação de pragas de sementes, visando à diminuição do uso de pesticidas. Dessa forma, com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos do tratamento térmico na superação da dormência de sementes de Stylosanthes capitata, S. guianensis e S. macrocephala, estas foram expostas a temperaturas de 50, 60 e 70ºC, durante 5, 10 e 15 horas. Posteriormente, as sementes foram submetidas ao teste de germinação com quatro repetições de 100 sementes para cada tratamento. O efeito dos tratamentos foi avaliado pelo teste de germinação e índice de velocidade de germinação (IVG). Para sementes de S. macrocephala e S. capitata, o uso de temperaturas elevadas propicia a superação da dormência. Para a primeira espécie, o tratamento mais eficiente é submeter as sementes à temperatura de 60ºC por 15 horas , enquanto que, para as sementes de S. capitata, a temperatura de 70ºC é a mais indicada. Stylosanthes SW. is a genus of tropical legume with great potential for use as forage in Brazil. In general this genus presents seed dormancy, which causes irregular germination, a serious problem in the establishment of pastures. Several studies have explored the use of high temperatures achieving good results not only in overcoming seed dormancy in forage, as well as in the eradication of seed pests aiming at decreasing the use of pesticides. Thus, to evaluate the effects of temperature treatments to overcome seed dormancy of Stylosanthes capitata, S. guianensis and S. macrocephala, seeds were exposed to 50, 60 and 70ºC during 5, 10 and 15 hours. Seeds were then subjected to germination tests with four replications of 100 seeds each per treatment. The effect of treatment was evaluated by standard germination and speed germination index (IVG). For S. macrocephala and S. capitata the use of high temperatures overcame seed dormancy. For the first species the most efficient treatment was obtained with 60ºC during 15 hours, however for S. capitata seeds the temperature of 70ºC showed best results.

Genetic improvement programs ofperennialforage legumes in Brasil evaluate accessions in row plots without considering the genetic variability within accessions. Individual plant evaluations would not only allow for selection ofthe best accessions but also for the best individuais within accessions. This procedure is however more labor-intensive and expensive. The effectiveness ofusing the simulated individual BLUP selection method (BLUPIS) was assessed in a trial with Stylosanthes capitata and S. guianensis in a completely randomized block design with 35 accessions, six plants per plot and six andfive replications, respectively. The method can be applied when only total plot yields are measured and provide selection at the individual plant levei. Results showed a high correlation between selection by the traditional BLUP and the alterna tive BLUPlS methods. The latter is recommendedfor improving species in which individual plant evaluations are difficult.

The use of plant biomass as a source of energy presents many advantages, mainly that it is a renewable, clean source of energy. Many tropical grasses have excellent potential as energy crops. The main one in Brazil is Pennisetum purpureum (elephant grass) owing to its very high yields. However, it is vegetatively propagated, thus more difficult to establish than seed-propagated species. The use of Panicum maximum (guinea grass) is a possible alternative for use as a source of energy, due to its high yields as well as seed propagation. The objective of this research was to evaluate the potential of different P. maximum genotypes for use as energy crops, in comparison with elephant grass.

The objectives of this work were to estimate the genetic and phenotypic parameters and to predict the genetic and genotypic values of the selection candidates obtained from intraspecific crosses in Panicum maximum as well as the performance of the hybrid progeny of the existing and projected crosses. Seventy-nine intraspecific hybrids obtained from artificial crosses among five apomictic and three sexual autotetraploid individuals were evaluated in a clonal test with two replications and ten plants per plot. Green matter yield, total and leaf dry matter yields and leaf percentage were evaluated in five cuts per year during three years. Genetic parameters were estimated and breeding and genotypic values were predicted using the restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction procedure (REML/BLUP). The dominant genetic variance was estimated by adjusting the effect of full-sib families. Low magnitude individual narrow sense heritabilities (0.02-0.05), individual broad sense heritabilities (0.14-0.20) and repeatability measured on an individual basis (0.15-0.21) were obtained. Dominance effects for all evaluated characteristics indicated that breeding strategies that explore heterosis must be adopted. Less than 5% increase in the parameter repeatability was obtained for a three-year evaluation period and may be the criterion to determine the maximum number of years of evaluation to be adopted, without compromising gain per cycle of selection. The identification of hybrid candidates for future cultivars and of those that can be incorporated into the breeding program was based on the genotypic and breeding values, respectively. The prediction of the performance of the hybrid progeny, based on the breeding values of the progenitors, permitted the identification of the best crosses and indicated the best parents to use in crosses.

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram estimar parâmetros genéticos e fenotípicos e realizar a predição de valores genéticos de matrizes e procedências de erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis). Foram avaliadas 164 progênies de oito procedências, em três locais (Ivaí, PR, Guarapuava, PR e Rio Azul, PR), em relação ao caráter produção de massa foliar (PMF). Os componentes de variância, parâmetros genéticos e valores genéticos foram estimados pelo procedimento REML/BLUP individual (máxima verossimilhança restrita/melhor predição linear não viciada), realizando a análise multivariada para os três locais. Os coeficientes de herdabilidade individual, no sentido restrito, para o caráter PMF foram 0,15 em Ivaí, 0,62 em Guarapuava e 0,23 em Rio Azul. A baixa magnitude desses coeficientes em Ivaí e Rio Azul demanda a utilização de métodos de seleção que utilizem todos os efeitos aleatórios do modelo estatístico. O efeito de procedências foi significativo em Ivaí e Rio Azul, com correlação fenotípica intraclasse de 0,13 em Ivaí e de 0,09 em Rio Azul. As procedências apresentaram correlação genética de 0,95 entre os locais Ivaí e Rio Azul. Nesses locais, as procedências foram mais estáveis nos diferentes ambientes do que as progênies. Foram preditos os valores genéticos em relação a todas as procedências e matrizes em todos os locais quanto ao caráter avaliado. As melhores procedências são Barão de Cotegipe, Quedas do Iguaçu, Cascavel e Ivaí. The objectives of this paper were to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters and to predict breeding values for parents and provenances of Ilex paraguariensis. Eight provenances with 164 progenies were evaluated on three sites (Ivaí, PR, Guarapuava, PR and Rio Azul, PR) for the trait leaf weight (LW). All the variance components, parameters and breeding values were obtained by REML/BLUP (restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction) procedure at the individual level, through multivariate analysis involving the three sites. The individual strict sense heritabilities for the trait LW were 0.15 in Ivaí, 0.62 in Guarapuava and 0.23 in Rio Azul, demanding more sophisticated selection methods in Ivaí and Rio Azul. The provenance effect was significant in Ivaí and Rio Azul, with intraclass phenotypic correlation of 0.13 in Ivaí and 0.09 in Rio Azul. The provenances were more stable across sites than progenies with genetic correlation of 0.95 between the sites Ivaí and Rio Azul. Genetic values for all provenances and parents in all sites were predicted for the trait LW. The best provenances are Barão de Cotegipe, Quedas do Iguaçu, Cascavel and Ivaí.

This paper compares the efficiency of Brachiaria hybrid clone selection by either traditional analysis or a posteriori blocking, to adequately consider the effect of lower competition in the border rows of the experimental plots (border effect). Results demonstrated that a posteriori blocking improved selection and the reliability of the genotypic evaluation. Of the ten best clones, four did not coincide in the two approaches. The ranking was altered as well, which demonstrated that the indication of the five best clones, selected to proceed to pasture trials based on the traditional evaluation, was misleading. This paper confirms the usefulness of a posteriori blocking. Furthermore, the results revealed the need to impose more effective competition on plants in the border rows to avoid erroneous selection when conducting evaluations for agronomic performance in Brachiaria trials.

This study investigated the mating systems in Stylosanthes guianensis, an important tropical forage legume. Twelve progenies were analyzed with 21 polymorphic random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) loci. The mating parameters estimated using the mixed mating model showed that this population practices a mixture of selfing (61.4%) and out-crossing (38.6%) for reproduction. The results also indicated that the fraction of multilocus out-crossing of about 8.2% occurred among related individuals. Low values were obtained for correlation of paternity (0.212 ± 0.046) and correlation of selfing among families (0.102 ± 0.001). These results have important implications to establish strategies of maintenance of germplasm and genetic breeding.Keywords: Mixed mating model, out-crossing rate, tropical forage legumeAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5820-5822, 6 September, 2010

This study was carried out with the objective of estimating the genetic parameters of agronomic traits in Panicum maximum hybrids. Genotypes obtained from the crosses between the sexual plants S10 and S12 and cultivars Tanzania and Mombasa were evaluated. The design was an incomplete blocks design with two replicates (clones) and 33 blocks. Each block was constituted by three lines or plots with nine plants each, which were evaluated in six harvests. All the characters presented low broad sense heritabilities for both the individual harvest and for the mean of harvests and a large difference between the heritability and the individual repeatability coefficient, which may be due to the high permanent environmental variance, mainly for forage dry matter and leaf dry matter. On the other hand, the percentage of leaves also presented low repeatability and permanent environmental variance. The genotypic coefficients of variation were high, except for leaf percentage, but they were also associated with high residual coefficients of variation. Both the broad sense heritabilities per harvest and for the mean of harvests were of moderate magnitude for the agronomic traits evaluated in hybrid individuals of P. maximum. On the other hand, there is variability for selection of important characters such as total and leaf dry matter yields and selection for leaf percentage needs a greater number of harvests to improve selection efficiency. The genotypes presented great variability for Bipolaris maydis leaf spot incidence and this character can be included in the P. maximum breeding program.

Currently, Brachiaria brizantha Stapf is the tropical grass with the largest cultivated area in Brazil, being responsible for a major part of the seed market and for the increase in animal production. There are several superior genotypes available in germplasm banks, collected from the African continent and in need of evaluation. The selection of these genotypes must be based on predicted genotype values of the individuals in function of being perennial plants and of unsexed propagation. The standard procedure for the prediction of genetic values is the individual BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Predictor), using estimates of variance components achieved by the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) on an individual model. With the aim of selecting B. brizantha materials superior to the commercial cultivars in relation to the agronomic traits, 218 genotypes were evaluated at four experimental fields belonging to Embrapa Gado de Corte in Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. The fields were evaluated at different times, being that field One was evaluated for three years, and the others for two years. The experimental design used was that of randomized blocks in three replications, with Marandu and Xaraes cultivars as witnesses. Genetic parameters estimated for the characters were: accumulation of dry mass (MST), accumulation of foliar dry matter (MSF), dry green matter (MSV), leaf percentage (F(%)), rebudding (REB) and vigor. It was concluded that two years of measurement are enough for selection, adopting a coefficient of determination of 80%.

Atualmente, a Brachiaria brizantha Stapf é a gramínea forrageira tropical com maior área cultivada, no Brasil, e é responsável por grande parte do mercado de sementes e pelo incremento na produtividade animal. São muitos os genótipos superiores originários do continente africano que estão contidos nos bancos de germoplasma. A seleção dos genótipos mais promissores deve ser realizada com base nos valores genotípicos preditos dos indivíduos. O procedimento-padrão para a predição de valores genéticos é o BLUP individual, usando estimativas de componentes de variância obtidas pelo método de máxima verossimilhança restrita (REML) em um modelo individual. Com o objetivo de selecionar os materiais superiores para características agronômicas, foram avaliados 218 genótipos de B. brizantha distribuídos em quatro campos experimentais na Embrapa Gado de Corte, em Campo Grande, Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, e por um período mínimo de dois anos. O delineamento utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso com três repetições e as testemunhas foram as cultivares Marandu e Xaraés. Foram estimados parâmetros genéticos para os caracteres: acúmulo de massa seca (MST), acúmulo de matéria seca foliar (MSF), matéria seca verde (MSV), porcentagem de folha (F(%)), rebrota (REB) e vigor. Concluiu-se que dois anos de medições são suficientes para seleção adotando-se um coeficiente de determinação de 80%. Currently, Brachiaria brizantha Stapf is the tropical grass with the largest cultivated area in Brazil, being responsible for a major part of the seed market and for the increase in animal production. There are several superior genotypes available in germplasm banks, collected from the African continent and in need of evaluation. The selection of these genotypes must be based on predicted genotype values of the individuals in function of being perennial plants and of unsexed propagation. The standard procedure for the prediction of genetic values is the individual BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Predictor), using estimates of variance components achieved by the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) on an individual model. With the aim of selecting B. brizantha materials superior to the commercial cultivars in relation to the agronomic traits, 218 genotypes were evaluated at four experimental fields belonging to Embrapa Gado de Corte in Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. The fields were evaluated at different times, being that field One was evaluated for three years, and the others for two years. The experimental design used was that of randomized blocks in three replications, with Marandu and Xaraés cultivars as witnesses. Genetic parameters estimated for the characters were: accumulation of dry mass (MST), accumulation of foliar dry matter (MSF), dry green matter (MSV), leaf percentage (F(%)), rebudding (REB) and vigor. It was concluded that two years of measurement are enough for selection, adopting a coefficient of determination of 80%.

1. Examples of successful adoption of forage legumes are reported from all continents, where they delivered profi tability and often provided multipurpose benefi ts to farmers. 2. Factors vital to successful adoption were: meeting the needs of farmers; building relevant partnerships; understanding the socioeconomic context and skills of farmers; partici patory involvement with rural communities; and long-term involvement of champions. 3. Organisation of seed supply, achieving scale-up and forming partnerships to implement adoption are key features. 4. Legumes remain an important but under-exploited resource for tropical farming systems. The alternative to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers and purchased protein concentrates. 5. The R&D organisations will need to provide longterm support and greater investment for legume technologies to deliver benefi ts to farmers. Support will be needed for training and education programs to overcome declining availability of forage legume expertise and lack of awareness of oppor tunity for use of tropical forage legumes.

The objectives of this work were to estimate the genetic and phenotypic parameters and to predict the genetic and genotypic values of the selection candidates obtained from intraspecific crosses in Panicum maximum as well as the performance of the hybrid progeny of the existing and projected crosses. Seventy-nine intraspecific hybrids obtained from artificial crosses among five apomictic and three sexual autotetraploid individuals were evaluated in a clonal test with two replications and ten plants per plot. Green matter yield, total and leaf dry matter yields and leaf percentage were evaluated in five cuts per year during three years. Genetic parameters were estimated and breeding and genotypic values were predicted using the restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction procedure (REML/BLUP). The dominant genetic variance was estimated by adjusting the effect of full-sib families. Low magnitude individual narrow sense heritabilities (0.02-0.05), individual broad sense heritabilities (0.14-0.20) and repeatability measured on an individual basis (0.15-0.21) were obtained. Dominance effects for all evaluated characteristics indicated that breeding strategies that explore heterosis must be adopted. Less than 5% increase in the parameter repeatability was obtained for a three-year evaluation period and may be the criterion to determine the maximum number of years of evaluation to be adopted, without compromising gain per cycle of selection. The identification of hybrid candidates for future cultivars and of those that can be incorporated into the breeding program was based on the genotypic and breeding values, respectively. The prediction of the performance of the hybrid progeny, based on the breeding values of the progenitors, permitted the identification of the best crosses and indicated the best parents to use in crosses. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram estimar parâmetros genéticos e fenotípicos e, predizer os valores genéticos e genotípicos dos candidatos à seleção obtidos de cruzamentos intraespecíficos em Panicum maximum assim como o desempenho da progênie híbrida dos cruzamentos existentes e projetados. Setenta e nove híbridos intraespecíficos, obtidos de cruzamentos artificiais entre cinco indivíduos apomíticos e três sexuais, autotetraplóides, foram avaliados em teste clonal com duas repetições e dez plantas por parcela. Foram avaliados o rendimento de matéria verde, o rendimento de matéria seca total e de folhas além da porcentagem de folhas em cinco cortes anuais durante três anos. Os parâmetros genéticos foram estimados e os valores genéticos e genotípicos foram preditos por meio de procedimento de máxima verossimilhança restrita/melhor predição linear não viciada (REML/BLUP). A variância genética dominante foi estimada ajustando o efeito de família de irmãos germanos. As herdabilidades individuais no sentido restrito (0,02-0,05), no sentido amplo (0,14-0,20) e as repetibilidades individuais (0,15-0,21) foram de baixa magnitude. Efeitos de dominância para todas as características avaliadas indicaram que estratégias de melhoramento que exploram a heterose devem ser adotadas. Evidenciou-se um incremento de menos de 5% no parâmetro repetibilidade após três anos de avaliações e esse foi o critério para determinar o número máximo de anos de avaliação a ser adotado, sem comprometer o ganho por ciclo de seleção. A seleção de híbridos candidatos a futuras cultivares e daqueles a serem incorporados ao programa de melhoramento foi baseada nos valores genotípicos e genéticos, respectivamente. A predição do desempenho da progênie híbrida, baseada nos valores genéticos dos progenitores, permitiu a identificação dos melhores cruzamentos e indicou os melhores pais a serem usados em cruzamentos.

Brazil is an agricultural country, with 190 Mha of pastures sustaining 209 million cattle. Fewer than 10% of the cattle are fattened in feedlots, whereas cattle reared on pastures have a competitive advantage for export, eliminating the risks presented by the mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and considerations related to animal welfare. Brazil has been the world’s largest exporter of beef since 2004 and has the largest commercial herd in the world. In 2011, 16.5% of its production was exported, and the livestock sector contributed 30.4% of the gross national product from agribusiness and 6.73% of the total GNP. Many forage breeding programs, mainly at Embrapa, have contributed to the development of improved pastures, and cultivars of Brachiaria brizantha, B. decumbens, B. humidicola and Panicum maximum are the main pastures used in the country. All have apomictic reproduction, which means there are few cultivars occupying very large, continuous areas, thus suggesting a risk to the productive system. Such is the case of B. brizantha cv. Marandu, which occupies around 50 Mha. The Brazilian tropical forage seed industry is also important, and Brazil is the main seed exporter, supplying all Latin American countries. Due to pasture degradation, around 8 Mha is renovated or recovered each year. Forages are also used and planted each year in integrated crop–livestock and integrated crop–livestock–forest systems. Nowadays, these systems occupy 4 Mha. Improved pastures are thus a major asset in Brazil not only for the beef production chain but also for the dairy industry.

Pastures of Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk radically changed the scenario of livestock production in central Brazil in the early 1970s and in fact, promoted the development of this vast region. However, despite the reasonable biomass yields and nutritional value when grown on these tropical acid soils, its susceptibility to grassland spittlebugs has limited its use. The breeding of B. decumbens in Brazil has been restricted to interspecific crosses using cv. Basilisk as a pollen donor due to the lack of compatible sexual ecotypes within this species. Recently, the successful chromosome duplication of a sexually reproducing diploid accession produced 3 successful events (Simioni and Valle 2009), enabling intraspecific crosses. This paper reports the onset of the research to obtain superior apomictic hybrids in B. decumbens using reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS), a cyclic breeding strategy.