The highly allo-autopolyploid modern sugarcane genome and very recent allopolyploidization in Saccharum.

Modern sugarcane, a highly allo-autopolyploid organism, has a very complex genome. In the present study, the karyotype and genome architecture of modern sugarcane were investigated, resulting in a genome assembly of 97 chromosomes (8.84 Gb).

Transcriptome dynamics provides insights into divergences of the photosynthesis pathway between Saccharum officinarum and Saccharum spontaneum.

Saccharum spontaneum and Saccharum officinarum contributed to the genetic background of modern sugarcane cultivars. Saccharum spontaneum has shown a higher net photosynthetic rate and lower soluble sugar than S. officinarum.