Sugarcane, a vital cash crop, contributes significantly to the world’s sugar supply and raw materials for biofuel production, playing a significant role in the global sugar industry. However, sustainable productivity is severely hampered by biotic and abiotic stressors. Genetic engineering has been used to transfer useful genes into sugarcane plants to improve desirable traits and has emerged as a basic and applied research method to maintain growth and productivity under different adverse environmental conditions. However, the use of transgenic approaches remains contentious and requires rigorous experimental methods to address biosafety challenges. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) mediated genome editing technology is growing rapidly and may revolutionize sugarcane production. This review aims to explore innovative genetic engineering techniques and their successful application in developing sugarcane cultivars with enhanced resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses to produce superior sugarcane cultivars.

Sugarcane, a key cash crop in tropical and subtropical regions, is primarily cultivated for sucrose and bioethanol. However, Sugarcane Leaf Scald Disease, caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas albilineans, significantly threatens global sugarcane production. This review examines the disease cycle, epidemics, host–pathogen interactions, integrated management strategies, and future prospects for combating leaf scald. It highlights advancements in understanding pathogenicity, immune responses, and sustainable management of bacterial plant diseases to enhance control and prevention efforts. An analysis of GenBank data revealed 21 strains of X. albilineans, with some featuring complete genome maps and varying guanine-cytosine (GC) content. Advanced genomic tools, including clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and molecular techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enable accurate pathogen detection and facilitate the identification of resistance genes, aiding breeding programs. Recent progress in whole-genome sequencing and reduced costs have enabled the assembly of multiple X. albilineans genomes, enhancing bioinformatics analysis. Despite these advancements, research on the global genetic diversity of X. albilineans remains limited. Addressing this gap is crucial for developing more sustainable strategies to manage leaf scald, ensuring stable sugarcane yields and supporting global production. Further studies will strengthen efforts to mitigate this significant agricultural challenge.

The improvement of sucrose yield in sugarcane is impeded by the crop’s complex polyploid genome and slow progress in breeding. To clarify how arginine (Arg) regulates sugar metabolism and identify key genes associated with sucrose transport and accumulation in sugarcane, a screening experiment was performed by spraying L-arginine hydrochloride on the leaves and leaf sheaths of three sugarcane varieties (YZ05-51, YZ08-1609, and YT93-159), which differ in growth vigor, leaf morphology and other phenotypic traits. YZ05-51 exhibited the most prominent sugar-increasing effect, and subsequent optimization experiments on its leaf sheaths revealed that 20 g/mu L-arginine hydrochloride at pH 7.0 was optimal, significantly enhancing stem sucrose content. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the upregulation of genes related to sucrose synthesis and transport, with candidate genes enriched in pathways such as starch-sucrose metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Metabolomic analysis detected 32 sugar metabolites across three categories, of which 24 were differentially abundant (e.g., glucose, galactose, fructose, and mannose). Integrated multi-omics analysis identified key regulatory genes, including SBEs and TPS1 (sucrose synthesis and carbon flux regulation), RBSK, α-amylases, GH28 (starch breakdown, glycolysis, and sugar mobilization), ABC transporters, GTs, and TIM10/TIM12 (sucrose transporter). Collectively, these analyses demonstrate enhanced activity of genes and metabolites involved in sucrose synthesis/transport in leaf sheaths, accompanied by reduced synthesis of other monosaccharides and oligosaccharides. Vigorously metabolizing leaf sheaths is more conducive to sucrose transport. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying Arg-mediated sucrose accumulation specifically in the sugarcane YZ05-51 sugarcane, highlighting its critical regulatory roles.

Drought is a worldwide problem seriously influencingsugarcane (SaccharumL. spp. hybrids) production. The long-term domestication and selective breeding in artificial environments may have reduced the drought resistance of sugarcane. The objective of this study was to determine drought tolerance in a 138-genotype of elite sugarcane hybrids using the membership function value of drought tolerance (MFVD) based on the drought-tolerant coefficient (DC) of four yield traits (biomass, stalk weight, stalk diameterand stalk height) and bud survival rate (SR) at different growth stage under well-watered (WW) and water-stressed (WS) conditions. As expected, genotype means decreased for all five traits with WS, and the decrease of biomass, stalk weight, stalk diameter, stalk height and bud survival rate (SR) was >24%. Correlation coefficients analysis revealed that the MFVD was significantly positively correlated with the DCB, DCSW, DCSH and DCSD at the growth stage and SR at the seedling stage. Results indicated that these characters were closely related to the drought resistance of sugarcane. Thus, these five traits could be used as drought resistance indicators for screening drought resistance cultivars in sugarcane. The MFVD based on the DC of each yield traits and SR indicated that ten out of the138 sugarcane hybrids had high drought resistance, while 14 genotypes were highly susceptible to the drought, which can be used as ideal experimental materials to study the mechanism of sugarcane genotypes with contrasting drought sensitivities in response to drought stress. Our results help to fill the knowledge gap regarding to the sugarcane production under stress, shed light on sugarcane drought tolerance and provided useful information to the sugarcane breeders and producers which could be used in variety selecting and developing for dry prone regions.

Sugarcane Breeding Array 1.0, a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism array, is based on deep whole-genome resequencing of diverse sugarcane accessions. Validation demonstrated its robust performance and cost-effectiveness in population structure analysis, genome-wide association studies, and molecular breeding applications.