Nigerian scientists find cure for banana disease

August 5, 2010 05:53PM

Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, have discovered cure for a deadly disease affecting bananas in Africa.

The scientists say that they made the breakthrough when they successfully transferred genes from green pepper to bananas. This enabled the bananas to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) disease.

The disease causes yellowing and withering of banana leaves, uneven and premature ripening of the fruits and withering and rotting of the whole plant.

They noted that the disease was one of the most devastating diseases affecting bananas in the Great Lakes region of Africa. About half a billion US dollars worth of crop is lost annually to the disease. Research to fortify banana against BXW, using genes from green pepper, started in 2007.

Dr Leena Tripathi, a biotechnologist with the IITA, said that although there was still a long way to go before the transgenic bananas would find their way into farmers' fields, the breakthrough was a significant step in the fight against the disease.

NAN

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5603426-146/nigerian_scientists_find_cure_for_banana.csp

This is very encouraging news. This sort of result would be multiplied several times over, if the likes of FIIRO, SEDI and PRODA are properly equipped and funded.
We can do it!

This is great news . . . and I almost thought we would never get news like this after many years of reading of UNVERIFIABLE "Cures for Aids", "Fueless Generators" etc

phew!!

IITA has being and continues doing a great job!! This is one research center that continues to have immense impact on Nigeria and Africa in general.

I wish we have Institutes of this quality in every segment of society creating solutions the the numerous problems existent in Nigeria.

Hopefully IITA would earn millions of dollars as a result of this research!!

I honestly thought the new slang for weak erections was banana disease when I saw the topic
I had no clue this was about real bananas

Great news.

Does the scientist get some kinda award for this?

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ,

Hold up, they didnt find a cure for Cancer, but they found a cure for banana?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

(no offence)

Thumps up

It happened in the city and this is not on CNN and BBC?If na bad news from one remote village dem for don broadcast am.

Very good news.Though it will be very good to mention the names of the actual Nigerian scientists involved so that we can be sure they are actually Nigerians and not some foreigners working in IITA.

0hsisi:

I honestly thought the new slang for weak erections was banana disease when I saw the topic
I had no clue this was about real bananas

hahaahaha me too

this just goes to say that whetever we put our minds to do, can be done. if only we had the right government in place.

Genes from Sweet Pepper Arm Banana Against Deadly Wilt Disease




In a major breakthrough, crop scientists have successfully transferred genes from green pepper to bananas that enable the crop to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), one of the most devastating disease of banana in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Researchers are now about to start confined field trials in Uganda.

The transformed banana, infused with plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic protein (Pflp) or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap) from green pepper, have exhibited strong resistance to BXW in the laboratory and screenhouses. Some of the findings of the research have been published in the Molecular Plant Pathology Journal.

Scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, in partnership with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), would soon be evaluating these promising resistant lines under confined field trials after the Ugandan National Biosafety Committee approved the conduct of the tests.

Dr Leena Tripathi, a biotechnologist with IITA and the lead author of the paper, says that although there is still a long way to go before the transgenic bananas find their way onto farmer's fields, this breakthrough is a significant step in the fight against the deadly banana disease.

"The Hrap and Pflp genes work by rapidly killing the cells that come into contact with the disease-spreading bacteria, essentially blocking it from spreading any further. Hopefully, this will boost the arsenal available to fight BXW and save millions of livelihoods in the Great Lakes region," she said.

"Furthermore, the mechanism- known as Hypersensitivity Response -- also activates the defense of adjacent and even distant uninfected plants leading to a systemic acquired resistance," she adds.

The Hrap and Pflp are novel plant proteins that give crops enhanced resistance against deadly pathogens. They can also provide effective control against other BXW-like banana diseases in other parts of the world such as "Moko," Blood, and "Bugtok." The genes used in this research were acquired under an agreement from the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

The highly destructive BXW affects all varieties including the East African Highland bananas and exotic dessert, roasting, and beer bananas causing annual losses of more than US$500 million across East and Central Africa. African bananas are also under threat from another deadly disease, the banana bunchy top.

Dr Tripathi adds that there are presently no commercial chemicals, biocontrol agents or resistant varieties that could control the spread of BXW. Even if a source of resistance is identified today, developing a truly resistant banana through conventional breeding would be extremely difficult and would take years, even decades, given the sterile nature and long gestation period of the crop.

BXW was first reported in Ethiopia 40 years ago on 'Ensete', a crop relative of banana, before it moved on to bananas. Outside of Ethiopia, it was first reported in Uganda in 2001, then rapidly spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi, leaving behind a trail of destruction in Africa's largest banana producing and consuming region.

The disease causes yellowing and wilting of the leaves, uneven and premature ripening of the fruit, and withering and rotting of the whole plant.

BXW can be managed by debudding the banana plant and sterilizing farm implements used. However, the adoption of these practices has been inconsistent at best as farmers feel that debudding affects the quality of the fruit and sterilizing farm tools is too tedious.

The research to fortify banana against BXW using genes from sweet pepper was initiated in 2007.

For more information, please contact:

Dr Leena Tripathi, l.tripathi@cgiar.org
Biotechnologist
IITA-Uganda

Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cigar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (East & Southern Africa) IITA-Tanzania

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Communication Office
IITA Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

About IITA (www.iita.org)
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people's lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award-winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international nonprofit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100804080624.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News)



How can Nigerian Scientists find cure when it seems it was a collaboration between scientists from different Nations?

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture .HomeAbout IITAProgramsCropsKnowledge, Green pepper to the rescue of African bananas
5 August 2010


In a major breakthrough, crop scientists have successfully transferred genes from green pepper to bananas that enable the crop to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), one of the most devastating disease of banana in the Great Lakes region of Africa that causes about half a billion dollars worth of damage yearly. The researchers are poised to begin confined field trials in Uganda soon.


The transformed banana, infused with plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic protein (Pflp) or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap) from green pepper, have exhibited strong resistance to BXW in the laboratory and screenhouses. Some of the findings of the research have been published in the Molecular Plant Pathology Journal.

Scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, in partnership with African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), would soon be evaluating these promising resistant lines under confined field trials after the Ugandan National Biosafety Committee recently approved the conduct of the tests.

Dr Leena Tripathi, a biotechnologist with IITA and the lead author of the paper, says that although there is still a long way to go before the transgenic bananas find their way onto farmer’s fields, this breakthrough is a significant step in the fight against the deadly banana disease.

“The Hrap and Pflp genes work by rapidly killing the cells that come into contact with the disease-spreading bacteria, essentially blocking it from spreading any further. Hopefully, this will boost the arsenal available to fight BXW and help save millions of farmers' livelihoods in the Great Lakes region,” she said.

“Furthermore, the mechanism - known as Hypersensitivity Response - also activates the defense of surrounding and even distant uninfected banana plants leading to a systemic acquired resistance," she adds.

The Hrap and Pflp are novel plant proteins that give crops enhanced resistance against deadly pathogens. They can also provide effective control against other BXW-like bacterial diseases in other parts of the world such as “Moko”, Blood, and “Bugtok”. The genes used in this research were acquired under an agreement from the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.

The highly destructive BXW affects all varieties including the East African Highland bananas and exotic dessert, roasting, and beer bananas causing annual losses of more than US$500 million across East and Central Africa. The crop is also under threat from another deadly disease, the banana bunchy top.

Dr Tripathi adds that there are presently no commercial chemicals, biocontrol agents or resistant varieties that could control the spread of BXW. She emphasized that even if a source of resistance is identified today, developing a truly resistant banana through conventional breeding would be extremely difficult and would take years, even decades, given the sterile nature and long gestation period of the crop.

BXW was first reported in Ethiopia 40 years ago on Ensete, a crop relative of banana, before it moved on to bananas. Outside of Ethiopia, it was first reported in Uganda in 2001, then rapidly spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi, leaving behind a trail of destruction in Africa’s largest banana producing and consuming region.

The disease causes yellowing and wilting of the leaves, uneven and premature ripening of the fruit, and withering and rotting of the whole plant.

BXW can be managed by debudding the banana plant and sterilizing farm implements used. However, the adoption of these practices has been inconsistent at best as farmers feel that debudding affects the quality of the fruit and sterilizing farm tools is too tedious.

The research to fortify banana against BXW using genes from sweet pepper was initiated in 2007.

###

For more information, please contact:

Dr Leena Tripathi, l.tripathi@cgiar.org
Biotechnologist
IITA-Uganda

Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cigar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (East & Southern Africa) IITA-Tanzania

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Communication Office
IITA Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

About IITA (www.iita.org)

Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people's lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award-winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international nonprofit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

http://www.iita.org/web/iita/news-frontpage-feature2

According to the IITA, this cure was born not just by Nigerians but Ugandans, and Tanzanians ooo.

Good news we are coming up

Very nice!

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture .HomeAbout IITAProgramsCropsKnowledge, Green pepper to the rescue of African bananas
5 August 2010

In a major breakthrough, crop scientists have successfully transferred genes from green pepper to bananas that enable the crop to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), one of the most devastating disease of banana in the Great Lakes region of Africa that causes about half a billion dollars worth of damage yearly. The researchers are poised to begin confined field trials in Uganda soon.


The transformed banana, infused with plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic protein (Pflp) or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap) from green pepper, have exhibited strong resistance to BXW in the laboratory and screenhouses. Some of the findings of the research have been published in the Molecular Plant Pathology Journal.


Scientists from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, in partnership with African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), would soon be evaluating these promising resistant lines under confined field trials after the Ugandan National Biosafety Committee recently approved the conduct of the tests.


Dr Leena Tripathi, a biotechnologist with IITA and the lead author of the paper, says that although there is still a long way to go before the transgenic bananas find their way onto farmer’s fields, this breakthrough is a significant step in the fight against the deadly banana disease.

“The Hrap and Pflp genes work by rapidly killing the cells that come into contact with the disease-spreading bacteria, essentially blocking it from spreading any further. Hopefully, this will boost the arsenal available to fight BXW and help save millions of farmers' livelihoods in the Great Lakes region,” she said.

“Furthermore, the mechanism - known as Hypersensitivity Response - also activates the defense of surrounding and even distant uninfected banana plants leading to a systemic acquired resistance," she adds.


The Hrap and Pflp are novel plant proteins that give crops enhanced resistance against deadly pathogens. They can also provide effective control against other BXW-like bacterial diseases in other parts of the world such as “Moko”, Blood, and “Bugtok”. The genes used in this research were acquired under an agreement from the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.


The highly destructive BXW affects all varieties including the East African Highland bananas and exotic dessert, roasting, and beer bananas causing annual losses of more than US$500 million across East and Central Africa. The crop is also under threat from another deadly disease, the banana bunchy top.

Dr Tripathi adds that there are presently no commercial chemicals, biocontrol agents or resistant varieties that could control the spread of BXW. She emphasized that even if a source of resistance is identified today, developing a truly resistant banana through conventional breeding would be extremely difficult and would take years, even decades, given the sterile nature and long gestation period of the crop.

BXW was first reported in Ethiopia 40 years ago on Ensete, a crop relative of banana, before it moved on to bananas. Outside of Ethiopia, it was first reported in Uganda in 2001, then rapidly spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi, leaving behind a trail of destruction in Africa’s largest banana producing and consuming region.

The disease causes yellowing and wilting of the leaves, uneven and premature ripening of the fruit, and withering and rotting of the whole plant.

BXW can be managed by debudding the banana plant and sterilizing farm implements used. However, the adoption of these practices has been inconsistent at best as farmers feel that debudding affects the quality of the fruit and sterilizing farm tools is too tedious.

The research to fortify banana against BXW using genes from sweet pepper was initiated in 2007.

###

For more information, please contact:

Dr Leena Tripathi, l.tripathi@cgiar.org
Biotechnologist
IITA-Uganda

Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cigar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (East & Southern Africa) IITA-Tanzania
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Communication Office
IITA Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

About IITA (www.iita.org)
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people's lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award-winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international nonprofit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.


http://www.iita.org/web/iita/news-frontpage-feature2

This is not just about Nigerian scientists

tomzman:

Good news we are coming up

I will not hold my breadth

Ileke-IdI:

Great news.

Does the scientist get some kinda award for this?

No. Unless the scientific discovery will revolutionalise election rigging

truly:

No. Unless the scientific discovery will revolutionalise election rigging

nah, we gotta wait another few centuries for that

Ileke-IdI:

truly link=topic=492159.msg6525467#msg6525467 date=1281107271:

No. Unless the scientific discovery will revolutionalise election rigging

nah, we gotta wait another few centuries for that

No you misunderstand me
The scientist will only get an award if that discovery will make it possible for the ruling party to rig massively WITHOUT detection
this is like making it possible to commit a perfect crime!

truly:

No you misunderstand me
The scientist will only get an award if that discovery will make it possible for the ruling party to rig massively WITHOUT detection
this is like making it possible to commit a perfect crime!

LMAO!!! Hilarious!

Great! How I wish science and technology perform like or better than this

wow great news. i wish we could do more stuff like this.

instead of having US and Europe finding all d cures and bringing their technology & medicine to us. we could have our own!! and even bring ours to them that would be awesome.

Is it only banana they can find cure for? Tomorrow some body will go for cure and they will say the machine is not working or no instrument. Nigeria we knows all the story

Good! I always believed effective research really goes on in IITA

You always hear that a nigeria scientist has come up with a cure but nothing ever comes out of it. then you don't hear about the person again. Same old story

what Americans can do Nigerian better

ukcatlover:

Is it only banana they can find cure for? Tomorrow some body will go for cure and they will say the machine is not working or no instrument. Nigeria we knows all the story

IITA's remit is tropical agric research and they are good at it

ukcatlover:

Is it only banana they can find cure for? Tomorrow some body will go for cure and they will say the machine is not working or no instrument. Nigeria we knows all the story

its an agricultural institute.

Also one government agency Nuclear something something created an e-voting machine which they claim cannot be rigged they went to jega but he ruled e-voting out

Kudos!