5.7 Conclusions and Future Perspectives
Sugarcane has become an ideal biofactory, as it converts sunlight and water into
biomolecules such as sugar, fibers, and waxes in a very efficient manner, making it
the most productive field crop among cultivated plants. However, theoretical and
technical constraints are yet to be overcome. Accordingly, using sugarcane as a
biofactory is an exciting but challenging area of research and innovation that could
have a huge influence on the evolution of alternative sugarcane industries
worldwide.
Its complex polyploidy and high level of heterozygocity make proper exploitation of sugarcane variability a tough task. Consequently, significant advances in
traditional breeding of sugarcane are limited by its narrow gene pool, complex
genome, and the long breeding cycle. However, these disadvantages make sugarcane a good candidate for the application of transgenic approaches. Indeed,
examples of sugarcane transgenic lines exhibiting improved agronomic and
industrial traits have been cited in this chapter.
Thus, the establishment of molecular approaches reviewed herein to develop
sugarcane into a biofactory demonstrates that this crop has tremendous potential
and may play an important role in the growing bioeconomy through biopharming.
Like no other contemporary crop, sugarcane is facing new paradigms and is
expected to contribute at least partially to the development of new generation
highly profitable biofactories. Social and biosafety issues are expected to be
considered in any program aimed at developing a sustainable novel sugarcane
biofactory in the future.
References
Ahmad A, Pereira EO, Conley AJ, Richman AS, Menassa R (2010) Green biofactories:
recombinant protein production in plants. Recent Pat Biotechnol 4:242–259
Arencibia A, Vázquez RI, Prieto D, Téllez P, Carmona ER, Coego A, Hernández L, De la Riva GA,
Selman-Housein G (1997) Transgenic sugarcane plants resistant to stem borer attack. Mol Breed
3:247–255
Arencibia AD, Carmona ER (2006) Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). Methods Mol Biol
344:227–235
Arencibia AD, Carmona ER, Téllez P, Chan MT, Yu SM, Trujillo LE, Oramas P (1998) An
efficient protocol for sugarcane (Saccharum spp. L.) transformation mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Transgenic Res 7:213–222
Arencibia AD, Carmona ER, Cornide MT, Castiglione S, O’Relly J, Chinea A, Oramas P, Sala F
(1999) Somaclonal variation in insect-resistant transgenic sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid)
produced by cell electroporation. Transgenic Res 8:349–360
Arruda P (2012) Genetically modified sugarcane for bioenergy generation. Curr Opin Biotechnol
23:315–322. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2011.10.012
Arvinth S, Arun S, Selvakesavan RK, Srikanth J, Mukunthan N, Ananda Kumar P,
Premachandran MN, Subramonian N (2010) Genetic transformation and pyramiding of
aprotinin-expressing sugarcane with cry1Ab for shoot borer (Chilo infuscatellus) resistance.
Plant Cell Rep 29:383–395. doi:10.1007/s00299-010-0829-5
5 Sugarcane as a Novel Biofactory: Potentialities and Challenges
143
Sugarcane has become an ideal biofactory, as it converts sunlight and water into
biomolecules such as sugar, fibers, and waxes in a very efficient manner, making it
the most productive field crop among cultivated plants. However, theoretical and
technical constraints are yet to be overcome. Accordingly, using sugarcane as a
biofactory is an exciting but challenging area of research and innovation that could
have a huge influence on the evolution of alternative sugarcane industries
worldwide.
Its complex polyploidy and high level of heterozygocity make proper exploitation of sugarcane variability a tough task. Consequently, significant advances in
traditional breeding of sugarcane are limited by its narrow gene pool, complex
genome, and the long breeding cycle. However, these disadvantages make sugarcane a good candidate for the application of transgenic approaches. Indeed,
examples of sugarcane transgenic lines exhibiting improved agronomic and
industrial traits have been cited in this chapter.
Thus, the establishment of molecular approaches reviewed herein to develop
sugarcane into a biofactory demonstrates that this crop has tremendous potential
and may play an important role in the growing bioeconomy through biopharming.
Like no other contemporary crop, sugarcane is facing new paradigms and is
expected to contribute at least partially to the development of new generation
highly profitable biofactories. Social and biosafety issues are expected to be
considered in any program aimed at developing a sustainable novel sugarcane
biofactory in the future.
References
Ahmad A, Pereira EO, Conley AJ, Richman AS, Menassa R (2010) Green biofactories:
recombinant protein production in plants. Recent Pat Biotechnol 4:242–259
Arencibia A, Vázquez RI, Prieto D, Téllez P, Carmona ER, Coego A, Hernández L, De la Riva GA,
Selman-Housein G (1997) Transgenic sugarcane plants resistant to stem borer attack. Mol Breed
3:247–255
Arencibia AD, Carmona ER (2006) Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). Methods Mol Biol
344:227–235
Arencibia AD, Carmona ER, Téllez P, Chan MT, Yu SM, Trujillo LE, Oramas P (1998) An
efficient protocol for sugarcane (Saccharum spp. L.) transformation mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Transgenic Res 7:213–222
Arencibia AD, Carmona ER, Cornide MT, Castiglione S, O’Relly J, Chinea A, Oramas P, Sala F
(1999) Somaclonal variation in insect-resistant transgenic sugarcane (Saccharum hybrid)
produced by cell electroporation. Transgenic Res 8:349–360
Arruda P (2012) Genetically modified sugarcane for bioenergy generation. Curr Opin Biotechnol
23:315–322. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2011.10.012
Arvinth S, Arun S, Selvakesavan RK, Srikanth J, Mukunthan N, Ananda Kumar P,
Premachandran MN, Subramonian N (2010) Genetic transformation and pyramiding of
aprotinin-expressing sugarcane with cry1Ab for shoot borer (Chilo infuscatellus) resistance.
Plant Cell Rep 29:383–395. doi:10.1007/s00299-010-0829-5
5 Sugarcane as a Novel Biofactory: Potentialities and Challenges
143