Value-adding post harvest processing of cooking bananas (Musa spp. AAB and ABB genome groups)

Cooking bananas (including plantains) are among the major commodities used in Sub Saharan Africa to combat food insecurity. It is estimated that more than 30% of the banana production are lost afterharvest. The losses are mostly due to the rapid ripening of the fruits, poor handling, inadequate storage and transportation means, and poor knowledge of food processing options. Processing the fresh fruits into food products with a longer shelf life can provide a major outlet to use surpluses and to exploit a greater number of marketing options. In this paper, we provide ingredients and recipes for food products made by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) from its improved hybrids of cooking bananas to decrease post harvest losses, diversify the industrial potentials of bananas, and add value to farmers’ products. Some of these processing methods can be used by farmers and ruralentrepreneurs in their communities to ensure food security and raise their incomes, or upgraded by the private sector in a value chain approach to curb production losses in bananas.Keywords: Bananas, food security, post harvest, food processing, value additio

Diversity Analysis of Elite Maize Inbred Lines Adapted to West and Central Africa Using SSR Markers

Seventeen elite maize inbred lines of West and Central Africa adaptation with tropical and temperate x tropical origin were investigated for diversity at 18 SSR loci in non-coding regions of the maize genome, alongside two temperate inbred lines (B73 and Mo17), perennial teosinte (Zea diploperennis) and gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides). A total of 174 alleles were detected with a range of 5 to 15 alleles per maker and an average of 9.7 alleles per locus. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.29 in umc1226 to 0.92 in bnlg2122 with an average of 0.75. Relationships between heterotic groups and groups based on SSR data were quite varied for the lines studied. Primarily, the SSR markers grouped the lines on the basis of their origin, with three instances of a pair of heterotic lines clustering together; one pair of temperate origin and the other two tropical vs temperate x tropical. Four inbred lines (CMR 19, CMR 20, CMR 21, and CMR 26), belonging to three heterotic groups were, however, differentiated by SSR data. The markers showed potential for use in managing inbred lines germplasm adapted to West and Central Africa, particularly for classifying inbred lines for which records of ancestry are not readily available and for exploiting the heterosis known for tropical vs. temperate x tropical crosses

GMO detection using a bioluminescent real time reporter (BART) of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) suitable for field use

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is an increasing need for quantitative technologies suitable for molecular detection in a variety of settings for applications including food traceability and monitoring of genetically modified (GM) crops and their products through the food processing chain. Conventional molecular diagnostics utilising real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and fluorescence-based determination of amplification require temperature cycling and relatively complex optics. In contrast, isothermal amplification coupled to a bioluminescent output produced in real-time (BART) occurs at a constant temperature and only requires a simple light detection and integration device.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) shows robustness to sample-derived inhibitors. Here we show the applicability of coupled LAMP and BART reactions (LAMP-BART) for determination of genetically modified (GM) maize target DNA at low levels of contamination (0.1-5.0% GM) using certified reference material, and compare this to RT-PCR. Results show that conventional DNA extraction methods developed for PCR may not be optimal for LAMP-BART quantification. Additionally, we demonstrate that LAMP is more tolerant to plant sample-derived inhibitors, and show this can be exploited to develop rapid extraction techniques suitable for simple field-based qualitative tests for GM status determination. We also assess the effect of total DNA assay load on LAMP-BART quantitation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>LAMP-BART is an effective and sensitive technique for GM detection with significant potential for quantification even at low levels of contamination and in samples derived from crops such as maize with a large genome size. The resilience of LAMP-BART to acidic polysaccharides makes it well suited to rapid sample preparation techniques and hence to both high throughput laboratory settings and to portable GM detection applications. The impact of the plant sample matrix and genome loading within a reaction must be controlled to ensure quantification at low target concentrations.</p

Identification and genomic location of a reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) resistance locus (Renari) introgressed from Gossypium aridum into upland cotton (G. hirsutum)

In this association mapping study, a tri-species hybrid, [Gossypium arboreum × (G. hirsutum × G. aridum)2], was crossed with MD51ne (G. hirsutum) and progeny from the cross were used to identify and map SSR markers associated with reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) resistance. Seventy-six progeny (the 50 most resistant and 26 most susceptible) plants were genotyped with 104 markers. Twenty-five markers were associated with a resistance locus that we designated Renari and two markers, BNL3279_132 and BNL2662_090, mapped within 1 cM of Renari. Because the SSR fragments associated with resistance were found in G. aridum and the bridging line G 371, G. aridum is the likely source of this resistance. The resistance is simply inherited, possibly controlled by a single dominant gene. The markers identified in this project are a valuable resource to breeders and geneticists in the quest to produce cotton cultivars with a high level of resistance to reniform nematode

Maize Inbreds Exhibit High Levels of Copy Number Variation (CNV) and Presence/Absence Variation (PAV) in Genome Content

Following the domestication of maize over the past ∼10,000 years, breeders have exploited the extensive genetic diversity of this species to mold its phenotype to meet human needs. The extent of structural variation, including copy number variation (CNV) and presence/absence variation (PAV), which are thought to contribute to the extraordinary phenotypic diversity and plasticity of this important crop, have not been elucidated. Whole-genome, array-based, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) revealed a level of structural diversity between the inbred lines B73 and Mo17 that is unprecedented among higher eukaryotes. A detailed analysis of altered segments of DNA conservatively estimates that there are several hundred CNV sequences among the two genotypes, as well as several thousand PAV sequences that are present in B73 but not Mo17. Haplotype-specific PAVs contain hundreds of single-copy, expressed genes that may contribute to heterosis and to the extraordinary phenotypic diversity of this important crop

Bases génétiques et biochimiques de la capacité germinative des graines: implications pour les systèmes semenciers et la production alimentaire

Une bonne semence est essentielle pour une agriculture productive. Les attributs de qualité de la semence incluent les paramètres génétiques, physiques, physiologiques et les conditions sanitaires. Ces attributs donnent des informations utiles sur la capacité germinative de la semence, la rapidité de l’émergence des plantules et leur capacité à établir des plantes vigoureuses et productives. Une des qualités majeures de la semence, est sa capacité germinative ou le potentiel de la semence à germer et a produire des plantules vigoureuses dans les conditions favorables. La capacité germinative est sous le contrôle de plusieurs facteurs intrinsèques et environnementaux. Des travaux de recherche menés sur des graines de plusieurs espèces ont identifié, au titre des causes intrinsèques, des facteurs biochimiques et génétiques impliqués dans la capacité germinative de la graine. La connaissance de ces facteurs est utile pour la production agricole à travers l’amélioration des conditions de conservation des semences et la mise en place de systèmes semenciers efficaces. Cet article fait une synthèse de ces travaux de recherche et discute de la relation entre capacité germinative des graines et sécurité alimentaire.Mots clé: Semence, capacité germinative, facteurs biochimiques, gènes, systèmes semenciers, sécurité alimentair

Development of high-gossypol cotton plants with low-gossypol seeds using trispecies bridge crosses and in vitro culture of seed embryos.

The objective of this work is to develop an upland cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. [2n = 4x = 52, 2(AD)h], having a reduced level of gossypol in the seeds for food and feed uses, and a high level of gossypol in the remaining organs to limit pest incidence. Using G. sturtianum Willis (2n=2x=26, 2C1) as donor and G. thurberi Torado (2n = 2x = 26, 2D1) or G. raimondii Ulbrich (2n = 2x - 26, 2D5) as bridge species, two trispecies hybrids G. thurberi-G. sturtianum-G. hirsutum and G. hirsutum-G. raimondii- G. sturtianum were synthesized. Both trispecies hybrids were male sterile. Recurrent backcrossing to G. hirsutum as pollinator and selfing of the second backcross (BC) progenies resulted in seeds which were rescued by in vitro culture. In total, 1208 flowers of the trispecies hybrids and their BC progenies yielded 192 seed embryos from which 62 plants were obtained. Cytogenetic analyses indicated a relatively high frequency of chromosome pairing and chiasmata. The gland levels in backcross seeds ranged from glandless seeds to normally glanded seeds. All vegetative parts of those hybrids were glanded, but a wide range of variability for gland density was observed on leaf, stem, bract and calyx. Plants derived from seeds having a reduced level of gossypol constitute very interesting germplasm to develop a cultivated glanded cotton with low-gossypol seeds. (Résumé d'auteur

Production of high-gossypol cotton plants with low-gossypol seed from trispecific hybrids including gossypium sturtianum willis

peer reviewe