Towards the Genetic Improvement of Indonesian Sugarcane
July 4, 2008| |
Sugarcane is an important crop in Indonesia because it provides the country’s sugar needs and it is also being considered as one of the feedstocks for ethanol production. Sugar yield can be increased by developing high-yielding varieties with resistances to pests and diseases. Many strategies have been reported to improve these traits in sugarcane. A study in Jember and Muhammadiyah University in Indonesia attempted to conduct genetic transformation in sugarcane through Agrobacterium tumefaciens in the hope of fast-tracking this endeavor.
Preliminary studies comparing the constitutive promoters CaMV35S and the rice ubiquitin RUBQ2 promoters to drive the expression of the gusA gene revealed the higher activity of the former in embryogenic callus and suspension cultures of sugarcane. The encountered somaclonal variation in the transformed callus did not produce any transgenic plants. Thus, a new strategy to produce transgenic plants by transforming in vitro plants and multiple shoots without intervening callus phase was developed. This procedure allowed the production of transgenic plants that express the GUS gene. Further studies will focus on transgene stability and ways to increase efficiency.
For more details, see the article at: http://journal.discoveryindonesia.com/index.php/hayati/article/viewFile/96/122. Contact Dewi Suryani of IndoBIC for information on biotechnology in Indonesia at dewisuryani@biotrop.org
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