DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1c59zw445
title: Biomass yields, reproductive fertility, compositional analysis and genetic diversity of newly developed triploid giant Miscanthus Hybrids

description: Miscanthus ×giganteus (giant miscanthus) is a naturally occurring hybrid
 that has shown promise as a bioenergy/biomass crop throughout much of the
 temperate world.  Allotriploid (2n = 3x = 57) hybrids of M.
 ×giganteus, resulting from crosses between tetraploid M. sacchariflorus
 (2n = 4x = 76) and diploid M. sinensis (2n = 2x = 38), are particularly
 desirable due to their low fertility that minimizes reseeding and
 potential invasiveness. However, there is limited genetic diversity in
 commonly grown cultivars of triploid M. ×giganteus and breeding and
 development efforts to improve and domesticate this crop have been
 minimal. Here, we report on newly developed M. ×giganteus hybrids compared
 to the industry standard M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Dry biomass yields of
 new hybrids ranged from 19.5 to 32.4 Mg/ha per year for the fourth growing
 season, compared to 21.0 Mg·ha−1 for M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Plant
 reproductive fertility remained low for all accessions with overall
 fertility [(seed set · seed germination)/100] ranging from 0.3 to 4.5% for
 new hybrids compared to 0.4% for M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Culm density
 and height varied among accessions and were positively correlated with
 increased biomass. Based on compositional analyses, theoretical ethanol
 yields ranged from 9,740 to 16,278 L/ha for new hybrids compared to 10,406
 L/ha for M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’. Relative feed value (RFV) indices were
 low overall and ranged between 66.0 and 72.8 for new hybrids compared to
 M. ×giganteus ‘1993-1780’ with 71.3. The genetic diversity of new hybrids,
 compared to existing cultivars, was characterized using whole genome
 sequences. Based on pair-wise distances, cluster analysis clearly showed
 increased diversity of new hybrids compared to earlier selections. These
 results document new triploid hybrids of M. ×giganteus with enhanced
 biomass and theoretical ethanol yields in combination with broader genetic
 diversity and low reproductive fertility.
description: # Biomass Yields, Reproductive Fertility, Compositional Analysis and
 Genetic Diversity of Newly Developed Triploid Giant Miscanthus Hybrids
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1c59zw445](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1c59zw445) Included is the data used for Figures 1, 2, and 3 and Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the manuscript. Figure 3 and Table 6 are based upon the same DNA sequence data. ## Description of the data and file structure Figure_01_data.csv: Yield data in Megagrams per Hectare (Mg/ha) for the years 2017 through 2020 for each accession. Genomic_Size_distribution_raw.csv: Flow cytometry genomic size estimates in picograms (pg) for Figure 2. Sequence Data for Figure 3 and Table 6. Whole genome sequence data generated by Novogene Co., Inc. (Beijing, China). Standard Illumina DNA libraries were prepared with an insert size of 350 bp and then sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq instrument (Illumina, San Diego, CA) producing 150-bp paired-end sequencing reads with an average 25 Gb of raw data per sample. FastQ sequence filetype (.fq) is compressed with gzip (.gz) and then stored in a ZIP file (.zip) with relative path structure.  The relative path structure is a directory labeled with the accession identifier, as indicated in the manuscript, containing three files. There are two fastQ DNA sequence files, one for each direction of the sequence read, labeled with the accession identifier followed by an underscore and a number 1 or number 2, ie 6x_giganteus_1.fq.gz or 1993-1780_2.fq.gz, and the original MD5 hash text file that can be used to check file integrity after download. The file fastq.pdf, included with the dataset, provides additional general information about the fastq file type. File and directory structure: 6x_giganteus.zip * 6x_giganteus/ * 6x_giganteus_1.fq.gz * 6x_giganteus_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt 1993-1780.zip * 1993-1780/ * 1993-1780_1.fq.gz * 1993-1780_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt 2004-256.zip * 2004-256/ * 2004-256_1.fq.gz * 2004-256_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt 2004-266.zip * 2004-266/ * 2004-266_1.fq.gz * 2004-266_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2014-156-003.zip * H2014-156-003/ * H2014-156-003_1.fq.gz * H2014-156-003_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2014-156-007.zip * H2014-156-007/ * H2014-156-007_1.fq.gz * H2014-156-007_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2014-156-011.zip * H2014-156-011/ * H2014-156-011_1.fq.gz * H2014-156-011_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-007.zip * H2015-004-007/ * H2015-004-007_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-007_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-012.zip * H2015-004-012/ * H2015-004-012_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-012_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-014.zip * H2015-004-014/ * H2015-004-014_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-014_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-019.zip * H2015-004-019/ * H2015-004-019_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-019_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-038.zip * H2015-004-038/ * H2015-004-038_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-038_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-044.zip * H2015-004-044/ * H2015-004-044_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-044_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-049.zip * H2015-004-049/ * H2015-004-049_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-049_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-050.zip * H2015-004-050/ * H2015-004-050_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-050_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-069.zip * H2015-004-069/ * H2015-004-069_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-069_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-074.zip * H2015-004-074/ * H2015-004-074_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-074_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-079.zip * H2015-004-079/ * H2015-004-079_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-079_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-087.zip * H2015-004-087/ * H2015-004-087_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-087_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-096.zip * H2015-004-096/ * H2015-004-096_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-096_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-004-102.zip * H2015-004-102/ * H2015-004-102_1.fq.gz * H2015-004-102_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt H2015-007-013.zip * H2015-007-013/ * H2015-007-013_1.fq.gz * H2015-007-013_2.fq.gz * MD5.txt Mgiganteus_Freedom.zip * Mgiganteus_Freedom/ * MD5.txt * Mgiganteus_Freedom_1.fq.gz * Mgiganteus_Freedom_2.fq.gz Data for Table 1 KAVL_30Year_Means.csv: Monthly precipitation and temperature means for 30 years, 1991 through 2020. KAVL_Precipitation_Data_2017-2020.csv: Monthly Precipitation for the years 2017 through 2020. KAVL_Temperature_Data_2017-2020.csv: Monthly temperature data for the years 2017 through 2020. Data for Table 2 Fertility.csv: Percent Seed set, Percent Seed germination, Percent Female Fertility percent. Genome_Size.csv: Genome size in pg. Pollen_Viablility.csv: Percent pollen viability dataset. Data for Table 3 CulmNumber_CulmHeight_FoliageHeight.csv: Culm Number and Culm Height in meters and Foliage height in meters collected November 2020. Peak_Anthesis_date.csv: Peak anthesis, Day of the Year number for 2020. Data for Table 4 Biochemical_Table4.csv: Biochemical values for Table 4, Acid insoluable lignin (grams AIL/grams of sample), Cellulose (grams cellulose/ grams of sample), Hemicellulose (grams hemicellulose/grams of sample), Glucose (grams glucose/grams sample), Fructose (grams fructose/grams sample). biomass_ha.csv: Biomass in Mg/ha for 2017 through 2020. Theoretical_Ethanol.csv: Theoretical ethanol yield Liters per Hectare (L/ha). Data for Table 5 ADF.csv: Acid detergent fiber ADF(%). Reported in the table as (g/kg) therefore '1993-1780' adf 431.7 g/Kg = 431.7 g/1000g = 0.4317 g/g = 43.17% Crude_Protein.csv: Crude Protein (%). Reported in the table as (g/kg) therefore '1993-1780' Crude Protein 79.5 g/Kg = 79.5 g/1000g = 0.0795 g/g = 7.95% NDF.csv: Neutral Detergent Fiber NDF (%). Reported in the table as (g/kg) therefore '1993-1780' NDF 721.0 g/Kg = 721.0 g/1000g = 0.721 g/g = 72.1% NFC.csv: Non-fiber carbohydrate NFC(%). Reported in the table as (g/kg) therefore '1993-1780' NFC 229.4 g/Kg = 229.4 g/1000g = 0.2294 g/g = 22.94% RFV.csv: Relative Feed Value. ## Sharing/Access information Table 1 data set is obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2023) U.S. Climate Normals, 1991-2020. November, 2023. [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools/normals](http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools/normals) and North Carolina State Climate Office. (2023). Cardinal data retrieval system, KAVL – Asheville Regional Airport. November. 2023. [https://products.climate.ncsu.edu/cardinal/scout/?station=KAVL](https://products.climate.ncsu.edu/cardinal/scout/?station=KAVL).