Assessment of field performance and bruchid resistance during seed storage of a genetically modified cowpea expressing the alpha-amylase inhibitor 1 protein from common bean.

Introduction: The cowpea weevil, Fab., is the most economically important storage pest of cowpeas, causing up to 100 percent grain losses within six months of storage. To sustainably resist weevil damage, the cowpea cultivar IT86D-1010 was genetically modified via -mediated transformation to produce event CSI-32, which expresses the kidney bean alpha-amylase inhibitor 1 (αAI-1) protein exclusively in the seed, providing suppression of weevil development.

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated tetra-allelic mutation of the 'Green Revolution' SEMIDWARF-1 (SD-1) gene confers lodging resistance in tef (Eragrostis tef).

Tef is a staple food and a valuable cash crop for millions of people in Ethiopia. Lodging is a major limitation to tef production, and for decades, the development of lodging resistant varieties proved difficult with conventional breeding approaches. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to introduce knockout mutations in the tef orthologue of the rice SEMIDWARF-1 (SD-1) gene to confer semidwarfism and ultimately lodging resistance.

Development and characterization of GR2E Golden rice introgression lines.

Golden Rice with β-carotene in the grain helps to address the problem of vitamin A deficiency. Prior to commercialize Golden Rice, several performance and regulatory checkpoints must be achieved. We report results of marker assisted backcross breeding of the GR2E trait into three popular rice varieties followed by a series of confined field tests of event GR2E introgression lines to assess their agronomic performance and carotenoid expression.

Compositional Analysis of Genetically Engineered GR2E "Golden Rice" in Comparison to That of Conventional Rice.

Compositional analyses were performed on samples of rice grain, straw, and derived bran obtained from golden rice event GR2E and near-isogenic control PSBRc82 rice grown at four locations in the Philippines during 2015 and 2016. Grain samples were analyzed for key nutritional components, including proximates, fiber, polysaccharides, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and antinutrients. Samples of straw and bran were analyzed for proximates and minerals.

Easy and Efficient DNA Extraction from Woody Plants for the Detection of Phytoplasmas by Polymerase Chain Reaction.

A simple and efficient procedure for the extraction of high-quality DNA from phytoplasma-infected woody and herbaceous plants for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection is described. This procedure does not require phenol, chloroform, or alcohol for the precipitation of nucleic acids. Herbaceous and woody plant material are extracted in an identical manner with no additional purification or enrichment steps required.

Improved RNA Extraction from Woody Plants for the Detection of Viral Pathogens by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction.

An efficient procedure for the extraction of high-quality RNA from woody plants without the use of phenol, organic solvents, or alcohol precipitation is described. The method employs commercially available spin-column matrices and mitigates the inhibitory effects of plant polysaccharides and polyphenolic compounds commonly observed on subsequent polymerase chain reaction amplification when conventional extraction methods are applied to woody plant species. The method described has been successfully used in the development of highly sensitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques for the detection of a number of viruses in their woody hosts.