{"title":"Genetic Enhancement of Sugar Recovery Percentage in Commercial Sugarcane by Inducing Sweet Sucrose Isomerase Gene III (SSGIII)","authors":"Mudassar Fareed Awan, Usman Arif, Muhammad Farhan Sarwar, Momna Toqeer Dar, Safia Obaidur Rab","doi":"10.1007/s12355-025-01610-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Enhancing the sugar yield in sugarcane is considered a huge challenge due to the inherent complexity of its metabolic pathways and genomic organization. The incorporation of novel isomerase enzymes encoded through the <i>Sweet Sucrose Isomerase Gene III (SSGIII)</i> emerged as a promising strategy to augment sugar recovery percentage. This study meticulously engineered the <i>SSGIII</i>, optimized for expression in sugarcane, and subsequently introduced it into plant expression vectors under the influence of single and double promoter systems in conjunction with vacuole-targeted signal peptides at the 3′ end. The real-time PCR (RT-PCR) manifested the increased expression of <i>SSGIII</i> in sugarcane stalks relative to the leaves recommending a tissue-specific enhancement of sugar metabolism. The tested transgenic lines, SS-70, SS-55, SS-111, upheld very high level of sweetness in sugarcane. Transgenic line SS-220 transformed with triple gene constructs exhibited the maximum level of enhancement in sugar contents with a 27% improvement than13% over control line. This unprecedented augmentation was also seen to increase with maturity while reached optimum at the age of 18 months, underscoring the developmental dynamics influencing gene efficacy. The elite sugarcane line SS-220 displayed the highest Isomaltulose concentration (650 mM), substantiating the potential of triple gene constructs for maximal metabolic redirection. Furthermore, the Brix analysis corroborated these findings, exhibiting a surge in sugar content encompassing over 100% in transgenic lines relative to control plants. This investigation highlights the transformation potential of leveraging tailored genetic modifications, through the strategic deployment of <i>SSGIII</i> under diverse promoter systems, to significantly elevate sugar content in sugarcane. These advancements not only enhance the economic viability of sugarcane cultivation but also pave the way for future biotechnological interventions in crop improvement.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":781,"journal":{"name":"Sugar Tech","volume":"27 5","pages":"1615 - 1627"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sugar Tech","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12355-025-01610-5","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AGRONOMY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Enhancing the sugar yield in sugarcane is considered a huge challenge due to the inherent complexity of its metabolic pathways and genomic organization. The incorporation of novel isomerase enzymes encoded through the Sweet Sucrose Isomerase Gene III (SSGIII) emerged as a promising strategy to augment sugar recovery percentage. This study meticulously engineered the SSGIII, optimized for expression in sugarcane, and subsequently introduced it into plant expression vectors under the influence of single and double promoter systems in conjunction with vacuole-targeted signal peptides at the 3′ end. The real-time PCR (RT-PCR) manifested the increased expression of SSGIII in sugarcane stalks relative to the leaves recommending a tissue-specific enhancement of sugar metabolism. The tested transgenic lines, SS-70, SS-55, SS-111, upheld very high level of sweetness in sugarcane. Transgenic line SS-220 transformed with triple gene constructs exhibited the maximum level of enhancement in sugar contents with a 27% improvement than13% over control line. This unprecedented augmentation was also seen to increase with maturity while reached optimum at the age of 18 months, underscoring the developmental dynamics influencing gene efficacy. The elite sugarcane line SS-220 displayed the highest Isomaltulose concentration (650 mM), substantiating the potential of triple gene constructs for maximal metabolic redirection. Furthermore, the Brix analysis corroborated these findings, exhibiting a surge in sugar content encompassing over 100% in transgenic lines relative to control plants. This investigation highlights the transformation potential of leveraging tailored genetic modifications, through the strategic deployment of SSGIII under diverse promoter systems, to significantly elevate sugar content in sugarcane. These advancements not only enhance the economic viability of sugarcane cultivation but also pave the way for future biotechnological interventions in crop improvement.
期刊介绍:
The journal Sugar Tech is planned with every aim and objectives to provide a high-profile and updated research publications, comments and reviews on the most innovative, original and rigorous development in agriculture technologies for better crop improvement and production of sugar crops (sugarcane, sugar beet, sweet sorghum, Stevia, palm sugar, etc), sugar processing, bioethanol production, bioenergy, value addition and by-products. Inter-disciplinary studies of fundamental problems on the subjects are also given high priority. Thus, in addition to its full length and short papers on original research, the journal also covers regular feature articles, reviews, comments, scientific correspondence, etc.