A validation trial, seen here at the nursery stage, has confirmed genomic selection could double the rate of gain for key sugarcane traits. Photo / Sugar Research Australia
A validation trial, seen here at the nursery stage, has confirmed genomic selection could double the rate of gain for key sugarcane traits. Photo / Sugar Research Australia
Australian researchers have proved that genomic selection can successfully predict the performance of key sugarcane traits, with the technology set to improve plant breeding outcomes in the crop.
The programme is the culmination of five years of collaboration between Professor Ben Hayes’ team at the University of Queensland(UQ) and Sugar Research Australia (SRA).
Professor Hayes said a validation trial confirmed genomic selection could double the rate of gain for key sugarcane traits.
“We investigated the possibility of using genome-wide DNA markers, termed genomic selection, to accelerate gains for the sugarcane traits that determine profit for growers,” Hayes said.
“It’s tremendous and a great sense of relief when you see the result is what you predicted, but it’s also reassuring that this technology works very well.”
Research is also underway at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) to map the genome to pinpoint which genes are responsible for which traits, and how genetic variation influences a plant’s composition and performance.
Hayes said sugarcane’s genome was far more complex than the human genome, so it was “very encouraging” to confirm the process worked.
SRA executive manager of variety development Dr Jason Eglinton said while other crop industries were also adopting genomic selection, the technology would probably have a bigger impact on sugarcane because of the plant’s biology.
The genomic selection validation trial at the ratoon stage. Photo / Sugar Research Australia
“For the UQ team to develop the calibrations and algorithms and then to validate those predictions in field performance work is a significant step forward,” he said.
The Australian sugarcane crop is projected to be worth more than $2.5 billion in 2023-24, and Eglinton said the potential to speed up the implementation of genetic improvements was a valuable tool.
He said because sugarcane was a perennial crop, ordinarily there would be a growing trial for three years over multiple crop cycles to test its performance.
“If you can have a shortcut like a DNA profile telling you something about its performance, we don’t just save a year, we save three years.”
Eglinton said the models and methods developed by the University of Queensland team were already being deployed in commercial variety development by SRA.
“We have a 10-to-12-year development pipeline to produce a new variety and the potential for genomic selection to be used is really exciting.
“If you can get a variety with a higher yield to market years earlier than you would otherwise, then the economic impact dwarfs the cost of the technology.”
