Transcriptome of Sugarcane, a Highly Complex Polyploid

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is cultivated in the tropics primarily for its high sugar (sucrose) content. Recent concerns about climatic change and the search for alternatives to fossil fuels, has focused global attention on sugarcane as a source of biomass. Sugarcane is a highly complex polyploid making it a challenging subject for transcriptome analysis. The reference genome sequences for the monoploid hybrid sugarcane, and haploid progenitor Saccharum spontaneum produced recently are beginning to impact on sugarcane genomics research for food and industrial applications; while full polyploid genome sequences for hybrid species and reference sequence for other progenitors are being developed. Nevertheless, transcriptome studies have been conducted on various aspects of sugarcane development and agronomically/economically important traits. Applications of transcriptome research are also being advanced using gene editing approaches in sugarcane as the complexity is being revealed and better understood. Although sugarcane is the last major crop to have the genome sequenced, it is rapidly catching up with other major crops like rice and wheat. In the future, with the rapid advances in sequencing techniques, bioinformatics tools, gene editing and with the strength of genome sequences from progenitor species, sugarcane transcriptomics is set to help meet the demands of different end users.