Detection of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus in Quarantine and Production of Virus-free Sugarcane by Apical Meristem Culture

Abstract

Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) was detected for the first time in 1996 in the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) sugarcane quarantine at Montpellier by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in varieties from Brazil, Florida, Mauritius, and Réunion. Between 1997 and 2000, the virus was found by RT-PCR and/or tissue-blot immunoassay (TBIA) in additional varieties from Barbados, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Taiwan, suggesting a worldwide distribution of the pathogen. An excellent correlation was observed between results obtained for the two diagnostic techniques. However, even though only a few false negative results were obtained by either technique, both are now used to detect SCYLV in CIRAD's sugarcane quarantine in Montpellier. The pathogen was detected by TBIA or RT-PCR in all leaves of sugarcane foliage, but the highest percentage of infected vascular bundles was found in the top leaves. The long hot water treatment (soaking of cuttings in water at 25°C for 2 days and then at 50°C for 3 h) was ineffective in eliminating SCYLV from infected plants. Sugarcane varieties from various origins were grown in vitro by apical bud culture and apical meristem culture, and the latter proved to be the most effective method for producing SCYLV-free plants.

Plant Tissue Culture: Current Status and Opportunities

“…Tissue culture allows the production and propagation of genetically homogeneous, disease-free plant material [37]. Cell and tissue in vitro culture is a useful tool for the induction of somaclonal variation [38].…”

Effects of Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) and Indole -3- Butyric Acid (IBA) on In Vitro Rooting of Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) Micro- Shoots

“…Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is one of the major cash crops grown extensively all over the world [1] ranking among the ten most planted crops [2,3] encompassing approximately half of the globe [4] and is an economically important multipurpose crop in tropical and subtropical regions of several countries [4][5][6][7]. In Ethiopia, sugarcane is cultivated on more than 60,000 ha and the four sugar mills produce about 300,000 tonnes of sugar per annum which only covers about 60% of the annual demand for domestic consumption.…”

Sugarcane in vitro culture technology: Opportunities for Kenyas sugar industry

“…Hence, rapid in vitro multiplication of virus-free plants sugarcane plants is indispensible. In vitro methods to eliminate viruses from infected cane include either apical meristem culture only (Chatenet et al, 2001;Fitch et al, 2001), or combination of thermotherapy and meristem culture (Flynn et al, 2005). Meristem tip culture is a viable, rapid and reliable method of virus elimination in plants.…”

“…This technique takes an advantage of the fact that some viruses are unable to invade this region because of inhibition of replication and/or inability of the virus to keep up with the pace of rapidly dividing cells at the meristem tip (Reddy and Sreenivasulu, 2011). Literature review indicates that for virus elimination in sugarcane, the size of the excised meristem should be in the range of 0.2 to 1.5 mm in length Chatenet et al, 2001;Parmessur et al, 2002;Fitch et al, 2001) as only the meristem dome and the immediate covering (1 st leaf primordial) are usually virus-free. Hence, the chance of virus elimination is greater and produces plants phenotypically very similar to the original plant.…”