BACKGROUND Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major crop extensively cultivated in the tropics as both an important source of calories and a promising source for biofuel production. Although stable gene expression have been used for transgenic breeding and gene function study, a quick, easy and large-scale transformation platform has been in urgent need for gene functional characterization...

Wild relatives of okra represent a good source variation for breeding programs, particularly traits related to biotic and abiotic stresses fruit quality. However, wild species remain largely unexploited breeding. The cultivated accession Abelmoschus esculentus cv. ‘Arka Anamika’ was crossed with three accessions: manihot, ficulens moschatus. crossability estimated based on set, seed set germina...

Insect specimens of adult beetles and larvae of 7-9 and 9-10 mm length, respectively were collected from infested dry cassava at two locations from multiple stores in southern Ethiopia. The specimens were identified as Heterobostrychus brunneus (Murray, 1867) commonly known as boxwood borer and auger beetle. The study presents a current record of H. brunneus in Ethiopia, particularly in the con...

Leaves of Mangifera Indica (MI, mango leaves) and Manihot Utilissima (MU, cassava leaves) are available in tropical regions and are the most accessible vegetal wastes of Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo. These wastes are not suitably managed and are not rationally valorized. They are abandoned in full air, on the soil and in the rivers. They thus pollute environment. By contras...

Plants competing for available resources is an unavoidable phenomenon in a field. We conducted studies in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in order to understand the pattern of this competition. Taking into account the competitive ability of genotypes while selecting parents for breeding advancement or commercialization can be very useful. We assumed that competition could occur at two levels...

Cassava is regarded as the nutritional base of populations in developing countries, and flour, product made of cassava, is the most consumed in the world. The cassava leaves are very rich in vegetable proteins, but a big amount is lost in processing the crop. The objective of this study was to do a sensory evaluation of cassava flour to which a protein concentrate obtained from cassava leaves (...

Root crop production in Papua New Guinea is reviewed. Crops considered are the major ones (Ipomoea batatas, Colocasia esculenta, Dioscorea aiata, D. escuienta, Xanthosoma sagitti!olium), other significant root crops (Manihot esculenta, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Cyrtosperma chpmissonis., Alocasia macro"htza and Solanum tuberosum) and 27 minor crops. For the major and significant crops, aspect...

Cassava (Manihot esculenta subsp. esculenta) is a staple crop with great economic importance worldwide, yet its evolutionary and geographical origins have remained unresolved and controversial. We have investigated this crop's domestication in a phylogeographic study based on the single-copy nuclear gene glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3pdh). The G3pdh locus provides high levels of n...