Using flow sorting to select high-value Erianthus chromosomes from a Saccharum-Erianthus hybrid

The complex polyploid nature of the sugarcane genome and the high representation of repetitive and transposable elements it shares with other plant genomes has hindered progress in our understanding of the genome. This complexity means genome assembly is highly challenging and there is still no high-quality sequence available. One approach that has been successfully used in many plants is to break down the complexity of the genome by using flow cytogenetics and examining individual chromosomes or groups of chromosomes.