Flowering in sugarcane-insights from the grasses

Area of Science:

• Plant Biology
• Crop Science
• Genetics

Background:

• Flowering is essential for angiosperm propagation and crop improvement.
• Sugarcane flowering benefits breeders but reduces commercial sucrose yield.
• Sugarcane exhibits quantitative short-day behavior, adapting to various daylengths.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the mechanisms regulating flowering in sugarcane.
• To discuss the dual impact of flowering on sugarcane breeding and commerce.
• To highlight challenges like erratic flowering and stage reversion.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on sugarcane flowering.
• Analysis of photoperiodic responses and environmental influences.
• Exploration of genetic and molecular factors, including gene and miRNA expression.

Main Results:

• Sugarcane requires specific short-day conditions (12h-12h30min) and is sensitive to temperature and light deviations.
• Flowering is erratic and can revert from reproductive to vegetative stages.
• Gene and miRNA roles in regulating floral transition are under investigation.

Conclusions:

• Understanding sugarcane flowering mechanisms is crucial for crop improvement and managing sucrose yield.
• Investigating spatial and temporal gene expression can elucidate genetic control of flowering.
• Knowledge of transcriptomic pathways (circadian, photoperiod, gibberellin) will improve understanding of floral development in sugarcane.