Euphytica 122: 145–153, 2001. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 145 Introgression of low temperature tolerance and red rot resistance from Erianthus in sugarcane Bakshi Ram 1 , T.V. Sreenivasan 2 , B.K. Sahi 1 & N. Singh 1 1 Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Regional Centre, Karnal – 132 001, India; 2 Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore – 641 007, India Received 8 February 2000; accepted 8 January 2001 Key words: Sugarcane, Erianthus, introgression, low temperature tolerance, red rot resistance Summary Eighteen clones involving Erianthus, as one of the parents, were evaluated in a randomised block design under sub-tropical conditions of Karnal (Haryana, India). Fifteen characters, which contribute towards stalk yield and juice-quality, were studied. The growth of these clones was monitored during peak winter months of December and January. Significant variability existed among the clones for all the traits studied, except for pol % in juice at 10-month crop age, indicating potentiality of the clones to select desirable types. Nine clones showed significant increase in stalk length during winter months over the better standard Co 1148. Whereas 6 clones developed more number of leaves than Co 1148. Both these characters showed high genetic variability, high heritability and hence, high expected genetic gain. Path analysis revealed that these traits contributed about 16%, 5% and 4% to the total genetic variability in juice quality traits (pol % and CCS %), stalk yield and CCS yield, respectively. Growth in winter months has resulted in an increase in stalk yield and CCS yield. This may help in reducing the yield gap between tropical and sub-tropical regions. Majority of clones showed resistance to red rot disease (major disease of sugarcane in sub-tropical region). Hence, hybridization of Erianthus with sugarcane has resulted in introgression of genes for cold tolerance and red rot resistance. As Erianthus is known for its hardiness, resistance, of these clones, to other abiotic and biotic stresses is to be ascertained. Introduction Species of Erianthus include small bushy types with narrow leaves without any stalk formation and tall stalk types with thick and long internodes, clinging leaves and having one row of root eyes (Sreenivasan et al., 1987). The stalks of Erianthus are pithy with little juice and sugar. The ligule is usually truncated and the dewlap is missing. The joint between leaf blade and leaf sheath is densely bearded and the fourth glume is present in the spikelets. The buds are long and feathery. The distinguishing characters in Erianthus from those of Saccharum are: densely bearded joints between leaf sheath and leaf blade, truncated ligule, clinging leaf sheath and long feathery buds. These characters are of great significance to ensure the hy- bridity of progenies of inter-generic crosses involving Saccharum and Erianthus clones. The chromosome number of Erianthus species are reported as 2n = 20, 22, 24, 30, 40 and 60 (Bremer, 1924, 1934; Janaki Ammal, 1941; Rao & Raghavan, 1951; Rao & Babu, 1953; Mehr et al., 1968; Mohan & Sreenivasan, 1983). Genera Saccharum, Erianthus (= sect. Ripidium), Sclerostachya and Narenga constitute a closely re- lated inter-breeding group concerned in the origin of sugarcane (Mukherjee, 1957). He coined the term ‘Saccharum complex’ to describe this larger breed- ing pool. The phylogenetic studies and cytological informations indicate that the S. officinarum has chro- mosomes in common with Miscanthus and Erianthus sect. Ripidium (Daniel & Roach, 1987). Autosyn- detic pairing need not restrict inter-generic transfer of specific genes because chromosomal segmental ex- changes could take place in the successive backcrosses as shown in sugarcane – sorghum hybrid backcross – self complexes (Sreenivasan et al., 1987). Sac-