Jiong Fu , Zhongmei Hong

Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Plant Gene and Trait, 2026, Vol. 17, No. 1   
Received: 20 Jan., 2026    Accepted: 18 Feb., 2026    Published: 27 Feb., 2026

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study explores the trait basis, genetic mechanisms, and breeding strategies for the coordinated improvement of yield and sugar content in sugarcane. Yield and sugar content are the two key traits determining sugar yield per unit area and industrial value, and their formation is jointly influenced by agronomic traits, physiological processes, and molecular regulatory networks. Cane yield is mainly determined by millable cane number, single stalk weight, plant height, and stalk diameter, while sugar content is characterized by quality traits such as Brix, Pol, CCS, juice purity, and fiber content. Photosynthetic efficiency, dry matter accumulation, source-sink relationships, and assimilate partitioning constitute the fundamental physiological basis linking biomass formation and sucrose accumulation. Genetically, the complex polyploid genome of sugarcane makes both traits typical quantitative traits controlled by multiple genes, allele dosage effects, and strong environmental interactions. This study further summarizes breeding strategies, including conventional hybrid breeding, marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, and gene editing, as well as the roles of agronomic management such as water and fertilizer regulation, population structure optimization, and proper harvesting time. Overall, achieving high yield and high sugar content relies on integrating yield- and quality-related traits and their underlying mechanisms within a genotype-environment-management framework to promote multi-trait coordinated improvement.

Sugarcane; Yield; Sugar content; Source-sink relationship; Coordinated improvement