Resistance evaluation of sugarcane mutants to Sporisorium scitamineum, the causal agent of sugarcane smut disease

Abstract

Sugarcane is one of the important crops in the world. It can produce a broad range of valuable products in the area of food, health, agriculture, and bioplastic. However, sugarcane is vulnerable to Sporisorium scitamineum infection. The use of resistant varieties is believed to be a proper control method for the disease. The induced mutation is one of breeding program methods that can be considered to acquire resistant varieties of sugarcane to smut disease. In 2018, we did mutation for some sugarcane varieties then in 2019 the mutants were screened for their resistance to smut disease. This research aimed to identify the resistance character of sugarcane mutants to smut disease. The inoculation method was conducted by dipping the bud into S. scitamineum teliospore suspension for 10 minutes at 30 °C. The buds were then planted and maintained in the polybags. The results showed that out of 41 evaluated mutants, 11 mutants were highly resistant, 9 mutants were resistant, 8 mutants were susceptible and 13 mutants were highly susceptible to smut infection. It seems that we could obtain resistant sugarcane varieties through induced mutation, however the resistance of the cane is still being evaluated during the ratoon stage.