Study shows that a sugarcane variety produces chlorogenic acid on its own when exposed to sugarcane borer attacks. The substance works against the pest. This acid can be considered a natural biopesticide, and its production can be induced to develop more resistant sugarcane varieties. Sugarcane borer, a moth species, is the main pest to the crop in Brazil. The study was made by Embrapa and by Brazilian and international research institutes. The sugarcane variety was developed by the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC) and is widely cultivated in the country. A sugarcane variety from the Saccharum complex, which is widely cultivated in Brazilian farms, when exposed to the attack of the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), produces chlorogenic acid, a substance that works against the aggressive insect. That was the finding from a study held by Embrapa in partnership with Brazilian and international research institutions published in the journal Industrial Crops & Products on ScienceDirect. The sugarcane borer is deemed the main pest to the crop in Brazil. Metabolic analyses showed that the sugarcane variety SP791011, which was developed by the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC) and is currently in the public domain, produced chlorogenic acid on its own when it was attacked by the sugarcane borer. In the same environment and in a control group, plants of the same variety that were not submitted to the herbivorous pest attack did not present high acid expression. The substance is harmful to pests to several crops, such as maize, coffee and tomato, as it affects their development and neutralizes their economic impacts on farms. In the study conducted with sugarcane, which also involved experiments adding chlorogenic acid to the borer's diet at their caterpillar stage, Diatraea saccharalis showed quicker development at the pupal stage; however, it was associated with wing deformity at the moth stage when exposed to all acid concentrations. The researchers assert that chlorogenic acid can be considered a natural biopesticide, and its production can be induced to develop more sugarcane-borer resistant sugarcane varieties. The main Brazilian sugarcane pest Diatraea saccharalis, the sugarcane borer, is a moth species from the Crambidae family. It was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. It is native to the Caribbean, Central America, and the warmest parts of South America, from the South to North of Argentina. The young caterpillar initially feeds from the leaves and then penetrates the softer parts of the stem. It opens galleries from the bottom to the top, which can either be longitudinal or transverse. The caterpillars reach their full development in 40 days, when they are 23 mm long. Their body color is pale yellow while their head is brown. The pupa (cocoon) stage follows the larval one, lasts from 9 to 14 days and results in an adult that leaves the plant through the orifice left by the caterpillar. The whole cycle lasts 53 to 60 days and can result in four generations a year, spread through October and November, December and January, February and April, and May and June. Their adult form is a moth with straw yellow wings tha are 25 mm large. The female moth lays eggs on the lower portion of the plant leaves. Damage The direct damage caused by the borer opening galleries include weight loss and bud death, felling by the wind (if the galleries are transverse, the inner whorl of the plants can dry out, which is known as "dead heart"), aerial rooting and side shooting. The open galleries can be the access channel for the fungi Colletotrichum falcatum and Fusarium moniliforme, which cause stem red rot. Once installed in the plant, they invert saccharose, which reduces juice purity. These are considered indirect damages caused by the pest attack. Photo: Embrapa Archive Conservation and breeding Partners Other co-authors of the paper on Industrial Crops & Products comprise scientists from the Federal University of Alagoas (Ufal), Tiradentes University Center (Unit) and North of Minas Integrated Colleges (Funorte), Brazil, as well as from the Imperial College and Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom. The work was coordinated by the researcher Alessandro Riffel, from Embrapa Coastal Tablelands Research Implementation Unit in Rio Largo, Alagoas, deceased in November 2019. The promising discovery should inform breeding and genetic improvement programs for the species that are developed by Embrapa and partners. One of the main goals of the crossbreeding is to generate new varieties that are resistant to important pests. The variety that was the object of the published study, SP791011, is among the 128 accessions of the Saccharum complex mantained at Embrapa Coastal Tablelands sugarcane gene bank (Cane GB) in an experimental field in Nossa Senhora das Dores, located in the countryside of Sergipe state. According to the researcher Adriane Amaral, curator to the bank, the discovery is quite exciting. “Based on such findings, we should conduct experiments with other varieties in the bank, both domesticated and wild, to observe the chlorogenic acid production behavior and possibly broaden the range of viable crossings”, she informs. Through the crossings, the new varieties thus developed will express the traits present in the parent plants that were crossed, such as resistance to specific pests, tolerance to droughts and to high temperatures, and others. A Noah's Ark for Cane On top of the ex situ conservation (planted in the field), the sugarcane gene bank (Cane GB) has accessions that are kept in vitro (in lab environments) for slow growth, as a means to maintain a safety reserve and material for pest-free donations. The conservation is performed at Embrapa Coastal Tablelands' tissue culture lab in Aracaju, Sergipe, with duplicates kept at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, in Brasília, Distrito Federal. Nowadays the gene bank's 128 accessions include the genera Saccharum (species: S. officinarum, S. spontaneum and S. robustum), Erianthus and Miscanthus. The accessions were collected in Brazil or obtained throuh imports and exchanges with international institutions. Action to enrich the Cane GB comprised the inclusion of accessions from Indonesia, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Suriname, Fiji, Taiwan, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, South Africa, Barbados, India and Pakistan. With funding from Embrapa and from external sources like Sergipe State Research and Technological Innovation Support Foundation (Fapitec), the Cane GB has contributed to undergraduate and graduate training for research, and replied to exchange requests from public and private sugarcane breeding programs, like Ridesa/UFAL and BioVertis/GranBio, for instance. Field samples from the bank are also on show at the technology display setup in late 2019 at Embrapa Coastal Tablelands, in Aracaju, Sergipe, and available for visitation. Photo: Saulo Coelho Translation: Mariana Medeiros
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Study shows that a sugarcane variety produces chlorogenic acid on its own when exposed to sugarcane borer attacks. -
The substance works against the pest. -
This acid can be considered a natural biopesticide, and its production can be induced to develop more resistant sugarcane varieties. -
Sugarcane borer, a moth species, is the main pest to the crop in Brazil. -
The study was made by Embrapa and by Brazilian and international research institutes. The sugarcane variety was developed by the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC) and is widely cultivated in the country. |
A sugarcane variety from the Saccharum complex, which is widely cultivated in Brazilian farms, when exposed to the attack of the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis), produces chlorogenic acid, a substance that works against the aggressive insect. That was the finding from a study held by Embrapa in partnership with Brazilian and international research institutions published in the journal Industrial Crops & Products on ScienceDirect. The sugarcane borer is deemed the main pest to the crop in Brazil.
Metabolic analyses showed that the sugarcane variety SP791011, which was developed by the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC) and is currently in the public domain, produced chlorogenic acid on its own when it was attacked by the sugarcane borer. In the same environment and in a control group, plants of the same variety that were not submitted to the herbivorous pest attack did not present high acid expression.
The substance is harmful to pests to several crops, such as maize, coffee and tomato, as it affects their development and neutralizes their economic impacts on farms. In the study conducted with sugarcane, which also involved experiments adding chlorogenic acid to the borer's diet at their caterpillar stage, Diatraea saccharalis showed quicker development at the pupal stage; however, it was associated with wing deformity at the moth stage when exposed to all acid concentrations.
The researchers assert that chlorogenic acid can be considered a natural biopesticide, and its production can be induced to develop more sugarcane-borer resistant sugarcane varieties.
The main Brazilian sugarcane pest
Diatraea saccharalis, the sugarcane borer, is a moth species from the Crambidae family. It was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794. It is native to the Caribbean, Central America, and the warmest parts of South America, from the South to North of Argentina.
The young caterpillar initially feeds from the leaves and then penetrates the softer parts of the stem. It opens galleries from the bottom to the top, which can either be longitudinal or transverse.
The caterpillars reach their full development in 40 days, when they are 23 mm long. Their body color is pale yellow while their head is brown. The pupa (cocoon) stage follows the larval one, lasts from 9 to 14 days and results in an adult that leaves the plant through the orifice left by the caterpillar. The whole cycle lasts 53 to 60 days and can result in four generations a year, spread through October and November, December and January, February and April, and May and June. Their adult form is a moth with straw yellow wings tha are 25 mm large. The female moth lays eggs on the lower portion of the plant leaves.
Damage
The direct damage caused by the borer opening galleries include weight loss and bud death, felling by the wind (if the galleries are transverse, the inner whorl of the plants can dry out, which is known as "dead heart"), aerial rooting and side shooting.
The open galleries can be the access channel for the fungi Colletotrichum falcatum and Fusarium moniliforme, which cause stem red rot. Once installed in the plant, they invert saccharose, which reduces juice purity. These are considered indirect damages caused by the pest attack.
Photo: Embrapa Archive
Conservation and breeding
Partners Other co-authors of the paper on Industrial Crops & Products comprise scientists from the Federal University of Alagoas (Ufal), Tiradentes University Center (Unit) and North of Minas Integrated Colleges (Funorte), Brazil, as well as from the Imperial College and Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom. The work was coordinated by the researcher Alessandro Riffel, from Embrapa Coastal Tablelands Research Implementation Unit in Rio Largo, Alagoas, deceased in November 2019. |
The promising discovery should inform breeding and genetic improvement programs for the species that are developed by Embrapa and partners. One of the main goals of the crossbreeding is to generate new varieties that are resistant to important pests.
The variety that was the object of the published study, SP791011, is among the 128 accessions of the Saccharum complex mantained at Embrapa Coastal Tablelands sugarcane gene bank (Cane GB) in an experimental field in Nossa Senhora das Dores, located in the countryside of Sergipe state.
According to the researcher Adriane Amaral, curator to the bank, the discovery is quite exciting. “Based on such findings, we should conduct experiments with other varieties in the bank, both domesticated and wild, to observe the chlorogenic acid production behavior and possibly broaden the range of viable crossings”, she informs.
Through the crossings, the new varieties thus developed will express the traits present in the parent plants that were crossed, such as resistance to specific pests, tolerance to droughts and to high temperatures, and others.
A Noah's Ark for Cane
On top of the ex situ conservation (planted in the field), the sugarcane gene bank (Cane GB) has accessions that are kept in vitro (in lab environments) for slow growth, as a means to maintain a safety reserve and material for pest-free donations. The conservation is performed at Embrapa Coastal Tablelands' tissue culture lab in Aracaju, Sergipe, with duplicates kept at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, in Brasília, Distrito Federal.
Nowadays the gene bank's 128 accessions include the genera Saccharum (species: S. officinarum, S. spontaneum and S. robustum), Erianthus and Miscanthus. The accessions were collected in Brazil or obtained throuh imports and exchanges with international institutions. Action to enrich the Cane GB comprised the inclusion of accessions from Indonesia, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Suriname, Fiji, Taiwan, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, South Africa, Barbados, India and Pakistan.
With funding from Embrapa and from external sources like Sergipe State Research and Technological Innovation Support Foundation (Fapitec), the Cane GB has contributed to undergraduate and graduate training for research, and replied to exchange requests from public and private sugarcane breeding programs, like Ridesa/UFAL and BioVertis/GranBio, for instance.
Field samples from the bank are also on show at the technology display setup in late 2019 at Embrapa Coastal Tablelands, in Aracaju, Sergipe, and available for visitation.
Photo: Saulo Coelho
Translation: Mariana Medeiros 
