Applications of in vitro culture systems for commercial sugarcane production and improvement

Sugarcane breeding, while key to continued improvement of pest and disease resistance and to increasing sucrose and biomass yields, is constrained by the length of time taken to release a new cultivar (10–14 yr). Forty years of international research into sugarcane in vitro culture has delivered many well-developed systems that are routinely applied to research and commercial activities, namely: (a) micropropagation of genotypes; (b) production of disease-free material from excised apical meristems; (c) international germplasm exchange; (d) generation of somaclones; (e) rapid disease and pest resistance screening; and (f) germplasm conservation. This review outlines several in vitro techniques, discussing how protocols have been tailored to address pertinent research issues and exploring possible commercial applications in the sugar industry to reduce the time frame to release a new cultivar and decrease demands on resources such as land and labour.