Metabolome fingerprinting reveals the presence of multiple nitrification inhibitors in biomass and root exudates of .

Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) encompasses primarily NH -induced release of secondary metabolites to impede the rhizospheric nitrifying microbes from performing nitrification. The intermediate wheatgrass (Kernza®) is known for exuding several nitrification inhibition traits, but its BNI potential has not yet been identified. We hypothesized Kernza® to evince BNI potential through the presence and release of multiple BNI metabolites.

RNAi technology for management of banana bunchy top disease.

Banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) is one of the world's most destructive viral diseases of banana and plantain, causing up to 100% yield loss in severe cases. The disease is vectored by banana aphids () and carried long distances through the movement of infected plant materials. The banana aphids harboring (BBTV) present in banana producing regions are the sole vector and the most efficient method of transmitting the virus to the healthy plants.

Genetically engineered bananas resistant to Xanthomonas wilt disease and nematodes.

Banana is an important staple food crop feeding more than 100 million Africans, but is subject to severe productivity constraints due to a range of pests and diseases. Banana Xanthomonas wilt caused by pv. is capable of entirely destroying a plantation while nematodes can cause losses up to 50% and increase susceptibility to other pests and diseases.

Combined Application of Biofertilizers and Inorganic Nutrients Improves Sweet Potato Yields.

Sweet potato [ (L) ] yields currently stand at 4.5 t ha on smallholder farms in Uganda, despite the attainable yield (45-48 t ha) of NASPOT 11 cultivar comparable to the potential yield (45 t ha) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). On-farm field experiments were conducted for two seasons in the Mt Elgon High Farmlands and Lake Victoria Crescent agro-ecological zones in Uganda to determine the potential of biofertilizers, specifically arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), to increase sweet potato yields (NASPOT 11 cultivar).

Co-inoculation Effect of Rhizobia and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria on Common Bean Growth in a Low Phosphorus Soil.

Nitrogen (N) fixation through legume- symbiosis is important for enhancing agricultural productivity and is therefore of great economic interest. Growing evidence indicates that other soil beneficial bacteria can positively affect symbiotic performance of rhizobia. Nodule endophytic plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were isolated from common bean nodules from Nakuru County in Kenya and characterized 16S rDNA partial gene sequencing.

Inoculants Enhance Grain Yields of Soybean and Cowpea in Northern Ghana.

This study evaluated the symbiotic effectiveness and economic evaluation of inoculants with the objective of recommending the most effective inoculant strain for soybean and cowpea production in Northern Ghana. Field experiments were established in three locations using randomized complete block design with five blocks. A total of four treatments (Legumefix, Biofix, 100 kg N ha and uninoculated control for soybean and BR 3267, BR 3262, 100 kg N ha and uninoculated control for cowpea) were applied.

A High-Throughput Regeneration and Transformation Platform for Production of Genetically Modified Banana.

Banana (Musa spp.) is an important staple food as well as cash crop in tropical and subtropical countries. Various bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases and pests such as nematodes are major constraints in its production and are currently destabilizing the banana production in sub-Saharan Africa.

Beyond conservation agriculture.

Global support for Conservation Agriculture (CA) as a pathway to Sustainable Intensification is strong. CA revolves around three principles: no-till (or minimal soil disturbance), soil cover, and crop rotation. The benefits arising from the ease of crop management, energy/cost/time savings, and soil and water conservation led to widespread adoption of CA, particularly on large farms in the Americas and Australia, where farmers harness the tools of modern science: highly-sophisticated machines, potent agrochemicals, and biotechnology.

Factors influencing somatic embryogenesis, regeneration, and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivar TME14.

Routine production of large numbers of transgenic plants is required to fully exploit advances in cassava biotechnology and support development of improved germplasm for deployment to farmers. This article describes an improved, high-efficiency transformation protocol for recalcitrant cassava cultivar TME14 preferred in Africa. Factors that favor production of friable embryogenic calli (FEC) were found to be use of DKW medium, crushing of organized embryogenic structures (OES) through 1-2 mm sized metal wire mesh, washing of crushed OES tissues and short exposure of tyrosine to somatic embryos; and transformation efficiency was enhanced by use of low Agrobacterium density during co-cultivation, co-centrifugation of FEC with Agrobacterium, germination of paramomycin resistant somatic embryos on medium containing BAP with gradual increase in concentration and variations of the frequency of subculture of cotyledonary-stage embryos on shoot elongation medium.

Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of yam (Dioscorea rotundata): an important tool for functional study of genes and crop improvement.

Although genetic transformation of clonally propagated crops has been widely studied as a tool for crop improvement and as a vital part of the development of functional genomics resources, there has been no report of any existing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of yam (Dioscorea spp.) with evidence of stable integration of T-DNA. Yam is an important crop in the tropics and subtropics providing food security and income to over 300 million people.

Unlocking the potential of tropical root crop biotechnology in east Africa by establishing a genetic transformation platform for local farmer-preferred cassava cultivars.

Cassava genetic transformation capacity is still mostly restricted to advanced laboratories in the USA, Europe and China; and its implementation and maintenance in African laboratories has remained scarce. The impact of transgenic technologies for genetic improvement of cassava will depend largely on the transfer of such capabilities to researchers in Africa, where cassava has an important socioeconomic niche. A major constraint to the development of genetic transformation technologies for cassava improvement has been the lack of an efficient and robust transformation and regeneration system.