Increasing the utility of genomics in unravelling sucrose accumulation

Genomics research into carbohydrate metabolism in sugarcane has been based on the premise that cataloguing genes expressed in association with stalk development would ultimately lead to the identification of genes controlling accumulation of sucrose. However, despite the compilation of extensive annotated gene lists in a number of laboratories, including our own, the identity of key regulatory genes remains elusive. One factor contributing to this situation has been a tendency for genomics-based strategies to be formulated in isolation from the extensive biochemical, enzymological and physiological data available on sucrose metabolism and carbohydrate accumulation, both for sugarcane and other organisms. It is our contention that the full analytical power of genomics will only be realised if it is focused, rather than global, and conducted as part of a multi-disciplinary research effort. Consequently, we are currently examining the expression pattern of a suite of sucrose-metabolism related genes, within a research context that has been guided by established source-sink models.