In sugarcane fields in Brazil, it is common to apply growth regulators or chemical ripeners to the sugarcane, analogous to plant hormones, with the aim of accelerating and increasing ripening (accumulation of sucrose) and inhibiting the flowering of the plant to prolong harvest periods and milling and, in this way, increase the productivity and economic gains of sugarcane growers.
A group of researchers from the Biology Institute of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), in collaboration with colleagues from the Agronomic Institute (IAC) and the Chemistry Institute of the University of São Paulo (IQ-USP), has now revealed how one of these Hormones act at a molecular level in sugarcane, contributing to increasing sucrose storage in the plant.
Result of doctoral research by student Camila Pinto da Cunha, carried out with a FAPESP scholarship, and of a project supported by the Foundation within the scope of the Bioenergy Research Program (BIOEN), the study was published in the journal Scientific Reports, from the Nature group.
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