Switchgrass ESTs and SNPs
As part of our project, “Developing Association Mapping in Polyploid Perennial Biofuel Grasses” (DOE-USDA Plant Feedstock Genomics for Bioenergy Program grant DE-A102-07ER64454)*, two SNP discovery initiatives were carried out. The earlier one (2009) was an approach based on EST sequences. The latest initiative (2011-12) adopted a more powerful approach, based on GBS (Genotyping by Sequencing). We believe that the SNP markers identified in these studies will greatly enhance breeding efforts that target the improvement of key biofuel traits and the development of new switchgrass cultivars.