Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-018-1508-4 RESEARCH NOTE Comparison of two diferent micropropagation systems of Saccharum officinarum L. and expression analysis of PIP2;1 and EIN3 genes as efciency system indicators Evelyn A. Carrillo‑Bermejo 1  · Miguel A. Herrera‑Alamillo 1  · Víctor M. González‑Mendoza 2  · Alejandro Pereira‑Santana 2  · Miguel A. Keb‑Llanes 1  · Enrique Castaño 2  · Manuel L. Robert 1  · Luis C. Rodríguez‑Zapata 1 Received: 4 June 2018 / Accepted: 7 October 2018 © Springer Nature B.V. 2018 Abstract In sugarcane commercial plantations, seedlings are obtained by vegetative propagation from stem segments. However, this form of seedling production has a downside as it is responsible for spreading various pathogens that accumulate in plants during the cultivation cycle. The development of a disease-free and pathogen-free large-scale production protocol is useful to help minimize the spread of such diseases in commercial plantations. For this reason, a plant tissue culture methodology such as in vitro micropropagation ofers the best alternative. In vitro micropropagation protocols using bioreactors based on the temporary immersion system such as BioMINT II™ is a cost-efective design. Our aim was to evaluate the efciency of two diferent systems of in vitro micropropagation for sugarcane seedlings; semi-solid and BioMINT II™ in terms of biomass production, morphological and physiological parameters. Beside this, we tested by RT-qPCR two genes (PIP2;1 and EIN3) involved in plant development, as possible molecular markers for quality analysis of development during the tested in vitro micropropagation conditions. At 28 days we obtained more shoots and better quality physiological parameters in the BioMINT II than in the semi-solid system. On the other hand, we characterized and correlated the expression of PIP2;1 and EIN3 with the morphological parameters of the two systems. Our results give a better option for biomass production with the BioMINT II™ and suggest additional experiments of the PIP2;1 and EIN3 genes to be considered as molecular markers for quality analysis of physiological parameters during in vitro micropropagation. Keywords Sugarcane · BioMINT II (Bioreactor Modular Temporary Immersion) · Micropropagation system · Magenta box · 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) · RT-qPCR Abbreviations MS Murashige and Skoog BAP 6-Benzylaminopurine TIS Temporary immersion system BioMINT II Modular immersion bioreactor RAM Root apical meristem GDP Gross domestic product SAM Shoot apical meristem AQPs Aquaporin genes. Sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) has great economic importance due to its application in the food industry, and is also par- ticularly valuable for its use in the production of ethanol, a less polluting renewable biofuel (Menossi et al. 2008). Originating in Asia, sugarcane is highly productive in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Communicated by Nokwanda Pearl Makunga. Evelyn A. Carrillo-Bermejo and Miguel A. Herrera-Alamillo have contributed equally to this work. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-018-1508-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Manuel L. Robert robert@cicy.mx * Luis C. Rodríguez-Zapata lcrz@cicy.mx 1 Unidad de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigación Científca de Yucatán, 97205 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico 2 Unidad de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular de Plantas, Centro de Investigación Científca de Yucatán, 97205 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico