Establishment of an Efficient Sugarcane Transformation System via Herbicide-Resistant CP4-EPSPS Gene Selection

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.), a major cash crop that is an important source of sugar and bioethanol, is strongly influenced by the impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses. The intricate polyploid and aneuploid genome of sugarcane has shown various limits for conventional breeding strategies. Nonetheless, biotechnological engineering currently offers the best chance of introducing commercially significant agronomic features. In this study, an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system that uses the herbicide-resistant CP4-EPSPS gene as a selection marker was developed. Notably, all of the plants that were identified by PCR as transformants showed significant herbicide resistance. Additionally, this transformation protocol also highlighted: (i) the high yield of transgenic lines from calli (each gram of calli generated six transgenic lines); (ii) improved selection; and (iii) a higher transformation efficiency. This protocol provides a reliable tool for a routine procedure for the generation of resilient sugarcane plants.