Evaluation of genetically modified sugarcane lines carrying Cry 1AC gene using molecular marker techniques

Five genetically modified insect resistant sugarcane lines harboring the Bt Cry 1AC gene to produce insecticidal proteins were compared with non-transgenic control by using three types of molecular marker techniques namely, RAPD, ISSR and AFLP. These techniques were applied on transgenic and non-transgenic plants to investigate the genetic variations, which may appear in sugarcane clones. This variation might demonstrate the genomic changes associated with the transformation process, which could change important molecular basis of various biological phenomena. Genetic variations were screened using 22 different RAPD primers, 10 ISSR primers and 13 AFLP primer combinations. Analysis of RAPD and ISSR banding patterns gave no exclusive evidence for genetic variations. Meanwhile, the percentage of polymorphic bands was 0.45% in each of RAPD and ISSR, while the polymorphism generated by AFLP analysis was 1.8%. The maximum percentage of polymorphic bands was 1.4%, 1.1% and 5.5% in RAPD, ISSR and AFLP, respectively. These results demonstrate that most transgenic lines showed genomic homogeneity and verified minor genomic changes. Dendrograms revealing the relationships among the transgenic and control plants were developed from the data of each of the three marker types.