Validation of SNP Markers for Diversity Analysis, Quality Control, and Trait Selection in a Biofortified Cassava Population.

A validated marker system is crucial to running an effective genomics-assisted breeding program. We used 36 Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) markers to genotype 376 clones from the biofortified cassava pipeline, and fingerprinted 93 of these clones with DArTseq markers to characterize breeding materials and evaluate their relationships. The discriminating ability of the 36-quality control (QC) KASP and 6602 DArTseq markers was assessed using 92 clones genotyped in both assays.

Use of low cost near-infrared spectroscopy, to predict pasting properties of high quality cassava flour.

Determination of pasting properties of high quality cassava flour using rapid visco analyzer is expensive and time consuming. The use of mobile near infrared spectroscopy (SCiO™) is an alternative high throughput phenotyping technology for predicting pasting properties of high quality cassava flour traits. However, model development and validation are necessary to verify that reasonable expectations are established for the accuracy of a prediction model.

Carbon usage in yellow-fleshed Manihot esculenta storage roots shifts from starch biosynthesis to cell wall and raffinose biosynthesis via the myo-inositol pathway.

Cassava is a crucial staple crop for smallholder farmers in tropical Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Although high yield remains the top priority for farmers, the significance of nutritional values has increased in cassava breeding programs. A notable negative correlation between provitamin A and starch accumulation poses a significant challenge for breeding efforts.

Genetic and environmental effects on processing productivity and food product yield: drudgery of women's work.

Background: Cassava processing is a crucial source of livelihood for rural farmers and processors in Nigeria and Cameroon. This study investigated the varietal effect on the processing productivity of women farmer processors within their working environment and compared this with the food product quality as evaluated by the processors and the field yield. Field trials were established in Nigeria (Benue and Osun state) and Cameroon (Littoral region).

Exploring genetic variability, heritability, and trait correlations in gari and eba quality from diverse cassava varieties in Nigeria.

Background: Gari (especially in Nigeria) is an important West African food product made from cassava. It is an affordable, precooked, dry, easy to prepare and store food product. Eba is a stiff dough produced by reconstituting gari in hot water.

Efficient sugar utilization and transition from oxidative to substrate-level phosphorylation in high starch storage roots of African cassava genotypes.

Cassava's storage roots represent one of the most important sources of nutritional carbohydrates worldwide. Particularly, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa depend on this crop plant, where resilient and yield-improved varieties are of vital importance to support steadily increasing populations. Aided by a growing understanding of the plant's metabolism and physiology, targeted improvement concepts already led to visible gains in recent years.

Establishing the linkage between eba's instrumental and sensory descriptive profiles and their correlation with consumer preferences: implications for cassava breeding.

Background: Gari and eba, forms of cassava semolina, are mainly consumed in Nigeria and other West African countries. This study aimed to define the critical quality traits of gari and eba, to measure their heritability, to define medium and high throughput instrumental methods for use by breeders, and to link the traits with consumer preferences. The definition of a food product's profiles, including its biophysical, sensory, and textural qualities, and the identification of the characteristics that determine its acceptability, are important if new genotypes are to be adopted successfully.

Validation of KASP markers associated with cassava mosaic disease resistance, storage root dry matter and provitamin A carotenoid contents in Ugandan cassava germplasm.

Introduction: The intrinsic high heterozygosity of cassava makes conventional breeding ineffective for rapid genetic improvement. However, recent advances in next generation sequencing technologies have enabled the use of high-density markers for genome-wide association studies, aimed at identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) linked to major traits such as cassava mosaic disease (CMD) resistance, dry matter content (DMC) and total carotenoids content (TCC). A number of these trait-linked SNPs have been converted to Kompetitive allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (KASP) markers for downstream application of marker assisted selection.

Predicting starch content in cassava fresh roots using near-infrared spectroscopy.

The cassava starch market is promising in sub-Saharan Africa and increasing rapidly due to the numerous uses of starch in food industries. More accurate, high-throughput, and cost-effective phenotyping approaches could hasten the development of cassava varieties with high starch content to meet the growing market demand. This study investigated the effectiveness of a pocket-sized SCiO™ molecular sensor (SCiO) (740-1070 nm) to predict starch content in freshly ground cassava roots.

Genetic variability and genotype by environment interaction of two major cassava processed products in multi-environments.

Conversion of cassava () roots to processed products such as gari and fufu before consumption is a common practice worldwide by cassava end-user for detoxification, prolonged shelf life or profitability. Fresh root and processed product yield are supposed to be equivalent for each genotype, however, that is not the case. Developing genotypes with high product conversion rate is an important breeding goal in cassava as it drives the adoption rates of new varieties.

Validation of KASP-SNP markers in cassava germplasm for marker-assisted selection of increased carotenoid content and dry matter content.

Provitamin A biofortification and increased dry matter content are important breeding targets in cassava improvement programs worldwide. Biofortified varieties contribute to the alleviation of provitamin A deficiency, a leading cause of preventable blindness common among pre-school children and pregnant women in developing countries particularly Africa. Dry matter content is a major component of dry yield and thus underlies overall variety performance and acceptability by growers, processors, and consumers.

Climate change challenges, plant science solutions.

Climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century, and this decade is a critical time for action to mitigate the worst effects on human populations and ecosystems. Plant science can play an important role in developing crops with enhanced resilience to harsh conditions (e.g.

Parsimonious genotype by environment interaction covariance models for cassava ().

The assessment of cassava clones across multiple environments is often carried out at the uniform yield trial, a late evaluation stage, before variety release. This is to assess the differential response of the varieties across the testing environments, a phenomenon referred to as genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI). This phenomenon is considered a critical challenge confronted by plant breeders in developing crop varieties.

Breeding Schemes: What Are They, How to Formalize Them, and How to Improve Them?

Formalized breeding schemes are a key component of breeding program design and a gateway to conducting plant breeding as a quantitative process. Unfortunately, breeding schemes are rarely defined, expressed in a quantifiable format, or stored in a database. Furthermore, the continuous review and improvement of breeding schemes is not routinely conducted in many breeding programs.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Root Mealiness and Other Texture-Associated Traits in Cassava.

Cassava breeders have made significant progress in developing new genotypes with improved agronomic characteristics such as improved root yield and resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. However, these new and improved cassava ( Crantz) varieties in cultivation in Nigeria have undergone little or no improvement in their culinary qualities; hence, there is a paucity of genetic information regarding the texture of boiled cassava, particularly with respect to its mealiness, the principal sensory quality attribute of boiled cassava roots. The current study aimed at identifying genomic regions and polymorphisms associated with natural variation for root mealiness and other texture-related attributes of boiled cassava roots, which includes fibre, adhesiveness (ADH), taste, aroma, colour, and firmness.

Genomic mating in outbred species: predicting cross usefulness with additive and total genetic covariance matrices.

Diverse crops are both outbred and clonally propagated. Breeders typically use truncation selection of parents and invest significant time, land, and money evaluating the progeny of crosses to find exceptional genotypes. We developed and tested genomic mate selection criteria suitable for organisms of arbitrary homozygosity level where the full-sibling progeny are of direct interest as future parents and/or cultivars.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cowpea [ (L.) Walp.] Germplasm Collected from Togo Based on DArT Markers.

Crop genetic diversity is a sine qua non for continuous progress in the development of improved varieties, hence the need for germplasm collection, conservation and characterization. Over the years, cowpea has contributed immensely to the nutrition and economic life of the people in Togo. However, the bulk of varieties grown by farmers are landraces due to the absence of any serious genetic improvement activity on cowpea in the country.

Understanding cassava varietal preferences through pairwise ranking of and prepared by local farmer-processors.

Within communities in Osun and Imo States of Nigeria, farmer-processors grew and processed a diverse set of improved and landrace cassava varieties into the locally popular foods, , and . Local and 15 main varieties were grown in a 'mother and baby trials' design in each state. Mother trials with three replications were processed by farmer-processors renown in their community for their processing skills.

Technological Innovations for Improving Cassava Production in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cassava is crucial for food security of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. The crop has great potential to contribute to African development and is increasing its income-earning potential for small-scale farmers and related value chains on the continent. Therefore, it is critical to increase cassava production, as well as its quality attributes.