Abstract
Sugarcane is a unique crop with the ability to accumulate high levels of sugar and is a commercially viable source of biomass for bioelectricity and second-generation bioethanol. Water deficit is the single largest abiotic stress affecting sugarcane productivity and the development of water use efficient and drought tolerant cultivars is an imperative for all major sugarcane producing countries. This review summarizes the physiological and molecular studies on water deficit stress in sugarcane, with the aim to help formulate more effective research strategies for advancing our knowledge on genes and mechanisms underpinning plant response to water stress. We also overview transgenic studies in sugarcane, with an emphasis on the potential strategies to develop superior sugarcane varieties that improve crop productivity in drought-prone environments.
Highlights
Environmental stresses limit plant growth and crop productivity (Mahajan and Tuteja, 2005; Lobell et al, 2011)
A large number of commercial Agribiotech companies heavily invested in developing commercial transgenic sugarcane, targeting herbicide tolerance, insect pest management, drought tolerance, biomass conversion and sucrose accumulation as priority traits
There are large research programs on developing water stress tolerant sugarcane through various strategies including transgenic research are underway in Brazil, India, China, Thailand and other sugarcane producing countries
Summary
Environmental stresses limit plant growth and crop productivity (Mahajan and Tuteja, 2005; Lobell et al, 2011). Despite the availability of molecular tools and strategies and advancements in our understanding of stress responses, engineering crops for drought tolerance remains a major challenge (Wang et al, 2003, 2016; Hu and Xiong, 2014) This is due to the complexity of the plant responses to water deficit (Hu and Xiong, 2014; Wang et al, 2003, 2016), and due to the difficulty of identifying and exploting large effect genes and alleles and the associated selection traits for developing drought tolerant varaties suitable for commercial crop production conditions (Tardieu, 2012; Cominelli et al, 2013).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
