Smut is one of the most important diseases of sugarcane and has a worldwide distribution. It can cause severe yield losses when a susceptible variety is grown in a smut infested area. Resistance is therefore a major concern for most sugarcane breeding centers. A study on the genetic determinism underlying sugarcane smut resistance was initiated. A genetic mapping strategy was chosen that focused on a cross between cultivar R 570 (resistant) and cultivar MQ 76/53 (highly susceptible) which showed a segregation for smut resistance in a preliminary field trial. An AFLP map is being constructed for both parents of the cross. At the same time, field trials and greenhouse experiments have begun using different artificial inoculation methods to assess the resistance of 200 individual progeny. This paper presents first results on smut occurrence among this progeny and correlations between segregating markers and resistance to smut. Other characters have also been observed (Brix. number of stalks, rust resistance). The possibility of identifying the different components involved in smut resistance and the interest of locus specific markers (SSR, resistance gene analogs, etc) to refine the genetic map are discussed.