ALTERING SUGARCANE SHOOT ARCHITECTURE THROUGH GENETIC ENGINEERING: PROSPECTS FOR INCREASING CANE AND SUGAR YIELD

SUGARCANE shoot architecture can affect both cane yield and sucrose content. For example, excessive stalk height can increase lodging and subsequent stalk death, while increased suckering can effectively reduce sugar content and, thus, profitability. Recently significant progress has been made in isolating and characterising genes that control plant architecture, especially those regulating the initiation and outgrowth of axillary buds and elongation of stems. An opportunity exists to test if these genes, when expressed in sugarcane, can alter growth to reduce lodging and suckering and increase yield. This paper reviews shoot architecture-associated constraints to improve sugarcane yield and describes the results of preliminary experiments that we are conducting to address them.