Production of healthy seed cane in Tucumán, Argentina

Abstract

Since 2001, the ‘Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres’ (EEAOC) has been working on the ‘Vitroplantas Project’. On average 70 000 sugarcane plantlets of commercial varieties are produced through in vitro meristem culture in order to eliminate systemic diseases caused by bacteria and viruses. The sanitation of plant material is achieved through in vitro culture of apical meristems from donor plants previously hot-watertreated and grown for 3 years under greenhouse conditions with anti-aphid screens. Systemic diseases are detected in both meristem donor plants and micropropagated plantlets using different molecular diagnostic techniques. It is well known that in vitro plant tissue culture can produce somaclonal variations, which consist of genetic changes in cultured cells and tissues. In order to guarantee that seedlings propagated in vitro are identical to parental varieties, molecular markers to quantify and detect somaclonal variation are routinely applied. Thus, the aim of this project is to guarantee healthy and genetically pure plantlets before transfer to the field for seed cane propagation. After propagation and testing, in vitro plantlets undergo an acclimatisation process in a specially adapted greenhouse at the EEAOC. In order to avoid dehydration of plantlets, the process takes place in a greenhouse with very high relative humidity (RH=80–100%) and low light intensity. After acclimatisation, two more stages of conventional field propagation (Basic and Registered), are carried out before the seed cane is finally distributed among sugarcane growers. The implementation of the project ‘Vitroplantas’ has greatly improved the health and biomass yields of sugarcane production in Tucuman, Argentina.