US Scientists Breed Disease-Resistant Plant for Africa

Michael Timko, a Professor of Biology in the University of Virginia, is helping African breeders to develop the resistance of cowpea to the weed Striga in West Africa. He and other scientists have sequenced the cowpea genome and are using this information to speed up and improve the breeding process by modern molecular-based technologies.

Cowpea is a primary protein source for millions of people. About 80 percent of the world's cowpea crop is grown in Africa, mostly by subsistence farmers. The entire plant is used for food, and for hay and fodder for cattle. However, the Striga gesnerioides, or “witchweed,” is so virulent that farmers must relocate their cowpea crop to new soil every few years. Timko’s approach is to improve the performance of plants by identifying genes that control key characteristics, and then use this knowledge in selective breeding programs that emphasize those traits using associated genetic markers. The resulting product is the delivery of improved parasite-resistant hybrids to the farmer in shorter amounts of time.

Read the full press release at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070722111035.htm