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), selec ted by Empresa Pernambucana de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (IPA), were evaluated to identify the accesses. In polyacrylamide gels, the systems peroxidase (P OX), esterase (EST), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), leucine ami no 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 syst em was considered low, which suggest that both can not be indicated for ger moplasm characterization. The patterns ACP, GOT, POX and EST allowed the id entification of the 14 accesses studied, which revealed 9, 3, 13 and 19 dif ferent electrophoretic patterns respectively. Using the esterase system alo ne, it is possible to identify the germoplasm bank of elephant grass quickl y and accurately.