GM Sugarcane Produces Two-Fold Sugar Content

Scientists from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia recently developed transgenic lines of sugarcane with increased total sugar content. The transgenic lines called ‘Sugarbooster’, produce the high-value sugar isomaltutose (IM) through the introduction of vacuole-targeted sucrose isomerase (SI) gene. The IM accumulates in storage tissues of sugarcane without any decrease in stored sucrose concentration. This resulted in up to two-fold increase in the total sugar yield in the harvested juice.

The transgenic sugarcane lines were found to be morphologically similar to non-transformed controls of the same sugarcane cultivar. However, delayed leaf senescence, increased photosynthetic activity, and enhanced sucrose transport were observed in the transgenics.

The abstract in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, with links to the complete paper for subscribers, can be accessed at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2006.00224.x