REVIEW OF RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN SUGARCANE GENOMICS

Abstract

Sugarcane is Pakistan's most important cash crop, primarily due to its industrial applications. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in sugarcane production, which has compensated for the decline in cotton production. Advances in sugarcane breeding have
contributed to improving crop yield and agronomic traits, but further improvements are necessary to meet the rising demand for sugar and cope with changing climate conditions. However, conventional breeding methods have proven challenging due to sugarcane's complex and highly heterozygous genome. Despite these limitations, mapping techniques, genome-wide association studies, and genome editing techniques have identified key genes that enhance sugarcane's yield and resistance to disease and pests. Genome editing technologies, such as Zinc Finger Nucleotide (ZNF), Transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), and Cluster regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR/Cas associated protein 9), are efficient and precise tools that allow for rapid genome engineering. These technologies have been successfully
applied in sugarcane to obtain new germplasm resources through gene-directed mutation. With whole genome sequencing data and knowledge of gene function, CRISPR-Cas 9 editing can rapidly generate new resources for key agronomic traits by precisely mutating important genes. This review focuses on the major differences and applications of these genome editing technologies in sugarcane plant engineering, emphasizing how they can facilitate molecular breeding and accelerate progress in basic research.