Am J Leuk Res | Volume 5, Issue 1 | Review Article | Open Access

Novel Biotechnological Approaches for the Enhancement of Sugarcane Production

Zahida Qamar1*, Idrees Ahmad Nasir1, Mounir G Abouhaidar2, Kathleen L Hefferon3 and Ahmad Ali Shahid1

1Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab Lahore, Pakistan
2Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Canada
3Department of Microbiology, Cornell University Ithaca, USA
4Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Pakistan

*Correspondance to: Zahida Qamar 

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Abstract

A major challenge observed by sugarcane farmers is to acquire greater biomass production. As a consequence of sugarcane’s weak defense against viruses, pathogens, and insect attacks. Growing healthy plant is a difficult task. Glyphosate tolerance and insect borer resistance are significantly important characteristics considering the genetic development of different crops. Transformation of insect borer resistant genes Bt. is an efficient and cost-effective approach used for improving the resistance of several crops against insect borers. Presently, commercially developed GM crops, for example, maize and cotton, consisted of genes associated with insect borer resistance and herbicide tolerance which are helpful qualities in a larger production. Herbicide-resistant transgenic crops signify the importance of genetically modified crops grown throughout the world, considering that 83% of land committed for GM crops was grown with herbicide-resistant species. Transformed lines stacked with various transgenes are generally achieved through cross-hybridization amongst the diverse transformed plants or re-transformation of multiple genes. These different procedures for combining the genes created some considerable restrictions such as cross-hybridization is lengthy and labor exhaustive. Considering this, scientists successfully developed a rapid and efficient procedure for transforming the many genes constructed individually with promoter and terminator through T-DNA in the specific plant genome by a singular transformation step. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is an important cash crop. It makes the availability of about 80% of the worldwide sugar and almost 90% in Pakistan. Lepidopteran insects can damage the sugarcane crop, causing more than 30% loss with reference to yield globally. Sugarcane is commonly grown in rainy areas, so it is typically exposed to weed infestation, which causes yield loss as well. Several studies reported the successful introduction of Bt. genes in sugarcane against lepidopteran insects. Some other studies reported the transformation of PAT/bar genes and developed resistant plants for glufosinate-ammonium. Currently, no study is available which introduced the Bt. genes such as Cry1Ac, Cry2A, and Glyphosate Tolerance gene (GT-gene) all together in sugarcane for commercial purposes.

Keywords:

Sugarcane; Cry1Ac; Cry2A, GT gene; Insecticides; Herbicides

Citation:

Qamar Z, Nasir IA, Abouhaidar MG, Hefferon KL, Shahid AA. Novel Biotechnological Approaches for the Enhancement of Sugarcane Production. Am J Leuk Res. 2022; 5(1): 1021.

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