Sugarcane

Abstract

Sugarcane (Saccharum sp. hybrids) is a highly productive C4 grass used as the main source of sugar and more recently to produce ethanol, a renewable transportation fuel. There is increased interest in this crop due to the impending need to decrease the dependency on fossil fuels. This chapters discusses tissue culture and transgenic approaches aiming at incorporation of herbicide resistance, abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, metabolic engineering and the production of value added products in sugarcane. Future developments are expected to lead to the commercial release of transgenic sugarcane and may include its development into a biofactory for high-value products.