Phylogenetic relationship among Kenyan sorghum germplasms based on aluminium tolerance

Eighty nine (89) sorghum lines sourced from various parts of Kenya were used to determine phylogenetic relationships based on 10 DNA fragments at AltSB loci with SbMATE, ORF9 and MITE primers. Nine lines of varying aluminium tolerance levels were selected to compare their SbMATE gene expression via the real-time PCR quantification of SbMATE gene expression. The sorghum line MSCR O2 expressed a thousandfold more SbMATEgene activity than the sensitive lines (MSCRM49, MSCRN84 and MSCRN61) under Al treatment. Analysis was done by agarose gel electrophoresis stained with ethidium bromide. The objective of this study was to assess the level of phylogenetic relationships among the Kenyan sorghum germplasms at a known Al tolerance locus. Hierarchical cluster analysis joined at 70% simple matching coefficient using average linkage similarity level produced nine groups in which 67 lines fell in three major clusters of 39, 15 and 13 lines each. The three Al tolerant lines MSCRO2, MSCRC1 and MSCRN60 were clustered together. Lines MSCRO2, MSCRC1 and MSCRN60, screened to be Al tolerant were genetically related at 70% average linkage similarity level and therefore recommend their further development as a food security measure in Kenya.Keywords: Aluminium (Al) toxicity, Sorghum bicolor, Sorghum bicolor multi-drug, toxic extrusion compound (SbMATE) gene expressionAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(22), pp. 3528-353

KENYA’S PRE - EMPTIVE AND PREVENTIVE INCURSION AGAINST AL - SHABAAB IN THE LIGHT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Al-Shabaab terrorist group’s series of kidnappings and cross-border incursions into Kenya threatened security and the lucrative tourism industry in East Africa's largest economy. Towards the end of 2011 events like the kidnapping of two foreigners and the killing of another in the Kenyan resorts on the east coast, the abduction of two aid workers from the Dadaab refugee camp, and the attack against Kenyan soldiers in cross-border raids raised a lot of concern for the Kenyan government. Consequently, the latter decided that the national security interest of Kenya had to be protected. As a result, the decision of the government was to go to war against Al- Shabaab. This prompted the Kenya Defence Forces’ (KDF) incursion to Somalia in a pre-emptive and preventive campaign aimed at fl ushing out Al-Shabaab from this country. The campaign took off in mid-October 2011 and it was dubbed “Operation Linda Nchi”, Swahili for “Protect the country’. In this article we look at the implication of Kenya’s pre-emptive and preventive incursion against Al- Shabaab from the perspective of international law

Adoption of Drought Tolerant Sorghum in Western Kenya

Food and nutritional insecurity are responsible for poverty and low livelihoods of about 33% of people living in western part of Kenya. This is against MDG1. The production of sorghum which is a staple food crop is below 0.5 t/ha, against the potential of 3-4 t/ha. Drought is a major factor responsible for the low and declining yields of sorghum, especially in the smallholder farms where agricultural inputs including improved cultivars are not normally utilized. Drought tolerant sorghum variety has been developed and deployed to western Kenya and its uptake remains low. The study aimed at assessing factors influencing adoption of drought tolerant sorghum variety. The research was carried out in various sites in Nyanza and Western Provinces. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. Systematic random sampling was employed in selected sites to identify 100 small scale sorghum farmers. The results showed that about 88 percent of farmers used uncertified sorghum seed. About 41 percent of farmers were aware of drought tolerant sorghum. Despite the significant level of awareness, only 7 percent had adopted drought tolerant sorghum. The probit model identified age, gender, social capital, sorghum farm size, income, extension, and total land holding as significant factors affecting adoption of drought tolerant sorghum. It is recommended that technology disseminators in sorghum should target the older farmers; farmers to operate in groups to access technology, farmers to increase the land size allocated to sorghum, and extension agents should strengthen their role as the link between research and the farmer

Aquatic biodiversity and saline lakes: Lake Bogoria National Reserve, Kenya

avian tuberculosis Lake Bogoria, in the Rift Valley of Kenya is an extreme saline lake (conductivity 40–80 mS cm−1, alkalinity 1500 m equ l−1). It is hydrologically more stable than the other, endorheic lakes in Kenya, because it is deep – maximum depth at present just over 10 m in an area of 3000 ha – and so does not have periods when it is dry. It is ecologically simple, with only one species dominating the phytoplankton – the cyanobacterium ‘spirulina’, Arthrospira fusiformis. Its biomass and productivity were very high – biomass between 38 and 365 µg l−1 chlorophyll ‘a ’ and 3.4–21 × 103 coils ml−1 and net production between 0.24 and 1 gm C m3 h, the latter in a narrow zone of less than a metre. There were no macro-zooplankton in the plankton and the only grazer of A