Our laboratory has dedicated in developing Systems Biology approach for understanding molecular and physiological aspect of plants species. Sugarcane research has identified and characterized a suite of proteins involved in carbon biosynthesis and sugar sensing. However, current results towards understanding sucrose biosynthesis and accumulation have fallen short of expectations. We are only beginning to produce the detailed gene expression data needed for understanding the network of interactions at a molecular level.

Here, we propose to develop a research approach which integrates molecular and systems biology to improve the knowledge about carbohydrates biosynthesis and sugar regulatory signaling in sugarcane. In our research we elaborate ways to apply analyses of regulatory network and dynamic metabolic models in molecular and genetic data of sugarcane related with sucrose biosynthesis, and define the diversification of glucose and sucrose-induced gene expression programs among angiosperms.