Jatropha is an important second-generation biofuel plant. Salinity is a major factor adversely impacting the growth and yield of several plants including Jatropha. SbNHX1 is a vacuolar Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter gene that compartmentalises excess Na⁺ ions into the vacuole and maintains ion homeostasis. We have previously cloned and characterised the SbNHX1 gene from an extreme halophyte, Salicornia brac...

Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) is a small tree with valuable attributes, including that as a commercially important non-edible oilseed that grows naturally in the equatorial Americas and has spread to other tropical countries. J. curcas has been found to be the most suitable tree species for production of biodiesel as it can be grown as a quick yielding plant even in problem soils and adver...

Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) is important for biofuel production and as a feed ingredient for animal. However, the presence of phorbol esters in the oil and cake renders the seeds toxic. The toxicity of J. curcas oil is currently assessed by testing in animals, leading to their death. The identification of toxic and nontoxic improved varieties is important for the safe use of J. curcas se...

Jatropha curcas seeds are an excellent biofuel feedstock, but seed yields of Jatropha are limited by its poor flowering and fruiting ability. Thus, identifying genes controlling flowering is critical for genetic improvement of seed yield. We isolated the JcLFY, a Jatropha ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana LEAFY (LFY), and identified JcLFY function by overexpressing it in Arabidopsis and Jatropha...

Genomic DNA was isolated from leaves of three species of Jatropha, namely J. glandulifera, J. gossypifolia and J. curcas. The objective of our study was to use alcohol as a fixing solution, making liquid nitrogen unnecessary for isolation of genomic DNA from Jatropha species. The spectral quality of genomic DNA isolated using this method as measured by the A260/A280 absorbance ratio ranged from...

The effects of different concentrations of copper (0–800 μmol) on growth, protein contents, peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in Jatropha curcas L. seedlings were assessed by means of pot experiments. Results suggested that increased copper concentrations lead to decreased shoot elongation and seedling biomass. Protein content in...

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an economically important species with a great potential for biodiesel production. To enrich the jatropha genomic databases and resources for microgravity studies, we sequenced and annotated the transcriptome of jatropha and developed SSR and SNP markers from the transcriptome sequences. In total 1,714,433 raw reads with an average length of 441.2 nucleotides we...

Jatropha curcas is an oleaginous plant whose seed yield low. The present study aimed at evaluating pests associated with J. curcas. In regards to the densities, Denticera near divisella density was obtained 0.85 larvae per in sole farming and 0.70, 0.61, respectively when intercropped casava, maize cowpea. When cassava Stomphastis thraustica most encountered species a of 1.28 while 0.61 for 0.2...