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Albinism in Sugarcane: Significance, Research Gaps, and Potential Future Research Developments

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Abstract

The usefulness of breeding to improve sugarcane (Saccharum sp. hybrids) crop performance and productivity depends heavily on the continued availability of new and beneficial genes and on novel approaches to the reproductive and agronomic controls used to access their full potential. One such novel approach is perhaps in the study of full or partial (variegation) albinism, an underexplored topic with implications both in sugarcane cultivar development and crop production. In sugarcane and other domesticated cereal grasses, cell culture (e.g., anther, callus, and immature embryo culture) has been employed via haploid and diploid embryogenesis in order to obtain genetically favorable parents, though rates of albinism in the regenerated plantlets are significantly high and remain a major bottleneck. The rate of photosynthesis in sugarcane leaves is known to throttle down throughout the growing season, and there is evidence that sink availability provides strong feedback. How an albino tiller—a genuine photosynthate sink—will accumulate sugar and biomass and respond to light cues and senescence, as well as how the rest of the plant will respond to an albino tiller, is currently unknown. In this short communication, we discussed the significance, critical gaps, and potential future developments of albinism in sugarcane research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA-ARS Sugarcane Field Station, 12990 US Highway 441 N, Canal Point, FL, 33438, USA

    Andrew Migneault, Per McCord & Duli Zhao

  2. Everglades Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3200 East Palm Beach Road, Belle Glade, FL, 33430, USA

    Hardev Sandhu

  3. Agronomy Department, University of Florida, PO Box 110965, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    John Erickson

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  1. Andrew Migneault
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  2. Hardev Sandhu
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  3. Per McCord
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  4. Duli Zhao
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  5. John Erickson
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Correspondence to Hardev Sandhu.

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Migneault, A., Sandhu, H., McCord, P. et al. Albinism in Sugarcane: Significance, Research Gaps, and Potential Future Research Developments. Sugar Tech 21, 536–541 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-018-0668-1

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