Sugarcane: A Major Source of Sweetness, Alcohol, and Bio-energy

Abstract

Sugarcane is an important tropical crop having C4 carbohydrate metabolism which, allied with its perennial nature, makes it one of the most productive cultivated plants. It is mostly used to produce sugar, accounting for almost two thirds of world production. Recently it has gained increased attention because of its important potential for bio-fuel production. However, sugarcane has one of the more complex crop genomes, which has long hampered the development of sugarcane genetics to support breeding for crop improvement programs. Sugarcane belongs to the genus Saccharum L, part of the Poaceae familly (Grasses) and the Andropogonae tribe, which encompasses only polyploid species.With the advent of molecular genomics, the sugarcane genome has become less mysterious, although its complexity has been confirmed in many aspects. Shortcuts to genomic analyses have been identified thanks to synteny conservation with other grasses, in particular sorghum and rice. Over time, new tools have become available for understanding the molecular bases behind sugarcane productivity and a renewed interest has surfaced in its genetics and physiology.