Combination of linkage and association mapping with genomic prediction to infer QTL regions associated with gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight resistance in tropical maize.

Among the diseases threatening maize production in Africa are gray leaf spot (GLS) caused by and northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) caused by . The two pathogens, which have high genetic diversity, reduce the photosynthesizing ability of susceptible genotypes and, hence, reduce the grain yield. To identify population-based quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for GLS and NCLB resistance, a biparental population of 230 lines derived from the tropical maize parents CML511 and CML546 and an association mapping panel of 239 tropical and sub-tropical inbred lines were phenotyped across multi-environments in western Kenya.

Genome analyses reveal population structure and a purple stigma color gene candidate in finger millet.

Finger millet is a key food security crop widely grown in eastern Africa, India and Nepal. Long considered a 'poor man's crop', finger millet has regained attention over the past decade for its climate resilience and the nutritional qualities of its grain. To bring finger millet breeding into the 21 century, here we present the assembly and annotation of a chromosome-scale reference genome.

A high-density linkage map of finger millet provides QTL for blast resistance and other agronomic traits.

Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] is a critical subsistence crop in eastern Africa and southern Asia but has few genomic resources and modern breeding programs.

Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Toxigenic from Groundnut Kernels in Kenya.

Pathogenesis of on important agricultural products is a key concern on human health due to the synthesis and secretion of the hazardous secondary metabolite, aflatoxin. This study identified and further characterized aflatoxigenic from groundnuts sampled from sundry shops in Kenya using integrated morphological and molecular approaches. The groundnuts were plated on potato dextrose agar for isolation and morphological observation of based on macroscopic and microscopic features.

UGbS-Flex, a novel bioinformatics pipeline for imputation-free SNP discovery in polyploids without a reference genome: finger millet as a case study.

Background: Research on orphan crops is often hindered by a lack of genomic resources. With the advent of affordable sequencing technologies, genotyping an entire genome or, for large-genome species, a representative fraction of the genome has become feasible for any crop. Nevertheless, most genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) methods are geared towards obtaining large numbers of markers at low sequence depth, which excludes their application in heterozygous individuals.

The role of Kenya in the trans-African spread of maize streak virus strain A.

Maize streak virus (MSV), the causal agent of maize streak disease (MSD), is the most important viral pathogen of Africa's staple food crop, maize. Previous phylogeographic analyses have revealed that the most widely-distributed and common MSV variant, MSV-A, has been repeatedly traversing Africa over the past fifty years with long-range movements departing from either the Lake Victoria region of East Africa, or the region around the convergence of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique in southern Africa. Despite Kenya being the second most important maize producing country in East Africa, little is known about the Kenyan MSV population and its contribution to the ongoing diversification and trans-continental dissemination of MSV-A.

Identification of SNP and SSR Markers in Finger Millet Using Next Generation Sequencing Technologies.

Finger millet is an important cereal crop in eastern Africa and southern India with excellent grain storage quality and unique ability to thrive in extreme environmental conditions. Since negligible attention has been paid to improving this crop to date, the current study used Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies to develop both Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers. Genomic DNA from cultivated finger millet genotypes KNE755 and KNE796 was sequenced using both Roche 454 and Illumina technologies.

Symbiotic Efficiency of Native Rhizobia Nodulating Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Soils of Western Kenya.

This study was conducted to determine the abundance and symbiotic efficiency of native rhizobia nodulating common bean in Kisumu and Kakamega, Kenya. Soil sampling was carried out in three farms that had been used for growing common bean for at least two seasons and one fallow land with no known history of growing common bean or inoculation. Abundance of soil rhizobia and symbiotic efficiency (SE) were determined in a greenhouse experiment.

Comparative analyses reveal high levels of conserved colinearity between the finger millet and rice genomes.

Finger millet is an allotetraploid (2n = 4x = 36) grass that belongs to the Chloridoideae subfamily. A comparative analysis has been carried out to determine the relationship of the finger millet genome with that of rice. Six of the nine finger millet homoeologous groups corresponded to a single rice chromosome each.

The genetic map of finger millet, Eleusine coracana.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), expressed-sequenced tag (EST), and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to generate a genetic map of the tetraploid finger millet (Eleusine coracana subsp. coracana) genome (2n = 4x = 36). Because levels of variation in finger millet are low, the map was generated in an inter-subspecific F(2) population from a cross between E.