Résumé
Erianthus arundinaceus is a species related to sugarcane with desirable attributes including excellent vigour and ratooning, adaptability to environmental stresses such as moisture deficits and excesses, and resistance to Pachymetra root rot. Numerous attempts have been made to cross E. arundinaceus with sugarcane to introduce these characters into modem cultivars. However, no conclusive results have been achieved to date. Indeed, in only a few cases has conclusive evidence of true intergeneric hybrids been documented (D'Hont et al., 1995; Besse et al., 1997; this study). These hybrids were produced from crosses involving pure Saccharum officinarum (2n=80) as the female parent and E. arundinaceus as the pollen donor. One of the major obstacles in using E. arundinaceus in the past has been the identification of true hybrids using morphological characters, which is time-consuming and unreliable. Molecular diagnostic tools have recently been developed for use in sugarcane to overcome this difficulty (D'Hont et al., 1995). These tools include sequence-tagged PCR to identify true hybrids at the seedling stage, and genomic in situ hybridisation (GISH) to characterise the chromosome complement of these genuine hybrids. An introgression program involving Erianthus commenced several years ago at the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES) in Australia. Here we report on the significant progress achieved in this program since these molecular tools were implemented. (Texte intégral)