Characterization and genetic diversity of elephant grass cultivars and their hybrids with millet through isoenzymatic patterns

The isoenzymatic patterns of seven cultivars of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and their seven hybrids with Pearl millet (P. americanum), selected by Empresa Pernambucana de Pesquisa Agropecuária (IPA), were evaluated to identify the accesses. In polyacrylamide gels, the systems peroxidase (POX), esterase (EST), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), leucine amino peptidase (LAP), alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and acid phosphatase (ACP), were studied in young leaves at 28 days after uniformization cut. It wasn't observed isoenzymatic activity of ADH and the efficiency of the LAP system was considered low, which suggest that both can not be indicated for germoplasm characterization. The patterns ACP, GOT, POX and EST allowed the identification of the 14 accesses studied, which revealed 9, 3, 13 and 19 different electrophoretic patterns respectively. Using the esterase system alone, it is possible to identify the germoplasm bank of elephant grass quickly and accurately.