Production of healthy seed cane in Tucumán, Argentina

NOGUERA A.S., PAZ N. DEL V., DÍAZ M.E., PERERA M.F., DÍAZ ROMERO C., GARCÍA M.B., FILIPPONE, M.P., WELIN B., CUENYA M.I., DIGONZELLI, P. AND CASTAGNARO A.P..

INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL

INT SUGAR JOURNAL LTD

Año: 2015

0020-8841

SINCE 2001, THE ?Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres? (EEAOC)has been working on the ?Vitroplantas Project?. On average 70 000 sugarcane plantletsof commercial varieties are produced through in vitro meristem culture in order toeliminate systemic diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. The sanitation of plantmaterial is achieved through in vitro culture of apical meristems from donor plantspreviously hot-water-treated and grown for 3 years under greenhouse conditions withanti-aphid screens. Systemic diseases are detected in both meristem donor plants andmicropropagated plantlets using different molecular diagnostic techniques. It is wellknown that in vitro plant tissue culture can produce somaclonal variations, whichconsist of genetic changes in cultured cells and tissues. In order to guarantee thatseedlings propagated in vitro are identical to parental varieties, molecular markers toquantify and detect somaclonal variation are routinely applied. Thus, the aim of thisproject is to guarantee healthy and genetically pure plantlets before transfer to the fieldfor seed cane propagation. After propagation and testing, in vitro plantlets undergo anacclimatisation process in a specially adapted greenhouse at the EEAOC. In order toavoid dehydration of plantlets, the process takes place in a greenhouse with very highrelative humidity (RH=80?100%) and low light intensity. After acclimatisation, twomore stages of conventional field propagation (Basic and Registered), are carried outbefore the seed cane is finally distributed among sugarcane growers. Theimplementation of the project ?Vitroplantas? has greatly improved the health andbiomass yields of sugarcane production in Tucuman, Argentina.