We feature two of our IBR staff on PhD training in Genetic transformation of plants for economic use

Johnstone Omukhulu Neondo

Cecila Mbithe Mweu

Management of striga hermonthica through bio-prospection of biocontrol microbes in maize fields and overexpressing of P efficient genes in maize.

Striga and low soil phosphorous are major contributors to food insecurity in poverty stricken sub-sahara Africa due to their devastating impacts on maize production. Genetic transformation of maize with phosphorous efficient genes coupled with conventional breeding is an

approach used to mitigate this. Bioprospecting of beneficial soil microbes in striga –hermonthoica resistant soils and cloning the rizosphere and over expressing them in maize will be done.

Regeneration and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Jatropha Curcas (physic nut).

Establishment of an efficient transformation protocol is a pre-requisite for genetic improvement of Jatropha curcas, a potential biofuel feed stock plant. The Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA101 harboring the binary vector pTF102 was used in transformation of

Jatropha to introduce gus (ß-glucuronidase) gene into Jatropha leaf discs and petioles. Evidence of GUS activity in transformed Jatropha shoot-tissues was histochemically confirmed. The percentage of GUS-positive shoots per total numbers of evaluated shoots was calculated to estimate the efficiency of transient-transformation. High frequencies of GUS expression were observed mostly in leaf discs of Jatropha shoots and less detected in petiole parts.

Inside this issue:1. Staff training at IBR..1 2. Message from the Director……………..13. Editorial …………....2 4. Staff research……….25. PhD student research 36. Products of IBR...….47. NCST grants……….4

DNA is DNA, whether in the plant or in the animal

Biotechnology NewsPage 1

A Newsletter of Institute for Biotechnology Research (IBR), JKUAT, issue 03, June 2012

Message from the DirectorThe role of modern biotechnology in the economic transformation of developing countries has become the subject of intense academic enquiry and public policy discourse. There is an increasing debate about the potential contributions that the technology can make to Kenya. Today this debate has stayed at two extremes: one that perceives biotechnology as the source of solutions to many of the agricultural, economic, social and environmental problems that developing countries are faced with, and the other extreme that treats the technology with considerable suspicion as a technology that will bring more ills to the countries. This scenario has been replayed consistently more in Kenya. The Institute for Biotechnology Research believes that scientific information is the basis for development and application of biotechnology. Research and development in the areas of genetic engineering are now a source of new innovation products that are improving agricultural production, human and animal health, the environment , and the industry in general. To this end researchers at the Institute for Biotechnology Research have geared their research towards discoveries in molecular biotechnology and have applied for and received research grants that will lead to generation of more information on benefits of biotechnology. Dr. Aggrey Bernard Nyende

STAFF TRAINING

EDITORIALWelcome to the third issue of the Biotechnology newsletter which we have specifically concentrated on genetic transformation research done at the Institute.

John Neondo, a Kenyan student currently studying PhD in IBR had the following to say “The current global economic crisis, rising food prices and the threat of climate change have reinforced the urgency to f i n d l a s t i n g a n d innovative solutions to Africas agricultural c h a l l e n g e s . M a j o r advances in science, technology, engineering and biotechnology must be identified and their potential in African agricultutre utilized. Biotechnology on its own is not a panacea, but will become one of the main tools to combat the e m i n e n t u p c o m i n g global water shortage and the increasing human popu la t ion . Twenty years of research h a s s h o w n t h a t biotechnology products o f f e r t r e m e n d o u s benefits.”John Neondo

J. Kinuthia and W. Kamau

The RNAi of the limiting aflatoxin biosynthesis steps- by Dr. Amos Alakonya (Research fellow, IBR)

Metagenomics: Phylogenetics and functional diversity of microbial communities in lake Bogoria, Magadi, Elementaita and the crater lake Sonachi-by Dr. Romano Mwirichia (Research fellow IBR) and Prof. Hamadi Boga.

Department of Plant Biology, Sinha

laboratory will be utilized.

Dr. Amos Alakonya has been

funded by the Bill and Melinda

Gates Grand Challenge project .

This project targets to thwart pre and

post harvest aflatoxin contamination

in maize through simultaneous cross

species RNA interference/silencing Dr. Romano Mwirichia received a of key aflatoxin and sterigmatocystin Georg Forster Research fellowship biosynthesis Aspergillus flavus and funded by the Alexander von Aspergillus parasiticus in the AFLR Humboldt foundation on a 2 year locus. This will be achieved by post graduate study in Goettingen, transforming transgenic maize with Germany. This project assesses the the silencing construct (s) capable of prokaryotic diversi ty within preventing expression of the three microbial samples collected from enzymes that catalyze the first two different soda lakes within the Rift rate limiting steps in aflatoxin and valley. Pyrosequencing of the bar-sterigmatocystis biosynthesis that coded amplicons of the 16S tRNA is yield the aflatoxin precursors, applied and the metagenomic hexanoyl CoA and norathrone. Parts libraries will be constructed and of this project shall be conducted at screened for functional genes and J K U A T - I B R , K U - P l a n t small molecules with antimicrobial Transformation laboratory, and the activity. Novel isolates identified U n i v e r s i t y o f C a p e To w n , todate in the research have been Department of Molecular and deposited in the international culture Cellular Biology, Plant Stress collections with the approval of the laboratory. The parasitic plant Kenya Wildlife serviceTranscriptome assembled by the

University of California –Davis,

Page 2

Exploring cross-species RNA interference as a management strategy against Striga hermonthica in Sub Sahara Africa—by Dr. Amos Alakonya (Research fellow at IBR)

This research is funded by the International Foundation of Science (IFS) for young

scientists . This project looks at understanding haustoriagenesis by isolating

genes exclusively expressed in haustoria followed by a preliminarily evaluation

screen through Viral Induced Gene silencing (VIGs) using the agroinfiltration

and/or agrodrench procedure. Data from this study will be used to develop gene

constructs for cross species RNAi of striga via hosts in the second phase of

funding.

Researcher Research title (Ph.D.) On research

1 Huxley Makonde Isolation and screening of termite microbiome for novel biocatalysts using culture-based and functional metagenomic techniques

On research

2 John K. Mwangi Diversity of rice blast pathogen population their interaction of rice blast pathogen and strategies for resistance management in Kenya

On research

3 Titus Kathurima Molecular resolution of genetic variability of CBSV and development of diagnostic kit for cassava and sweet potato virus

On research

4 Julius Kinuthia Development of microsatellites DNA markers for application in wildlife forensics in On research

5 Jacklene Ongachi Metagenome studies of archea diversity in lake elementaita Writing thesis

6 Kibogo Harrison Molecular characterization of honey bees, APIS mellifera in East Africa Writing thesis

7 Cecila Mbithe Characterization, regeneration and agro-bacterium tumefasciens-mediated transformation of jatropha

To submit thesis

8 Paul Kuria Evaluation of artificial zinc finger proteins in control of cassava geminiviruses On research

9 Richard Wekesa Effects of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid and naphthalene acetic acid concentration on callogenesis, somaclonal variation and performance of three sugarcane varieties in Western Kenya

On research

10 George Asudi Characterization of crotalaria achroleuca and crotolaria brevidens L. populations in Kenya To begin

11 Brhan KhiarOptimization of hot pepper in yield and fruit quality in Eritrea: Characterization and breeding potential of local genotypes To begin

12 Tesfamichael Abraha

Genetic diversity analysis and morphological assessment of Eritrean Sorghum landraces for drought tolerance using molecular markers

To begin

13 Johnstone Neondo

Management of striga hermonthica through bio prospection of biocontrol microbes in maize fields and over expressing of P efficient genes in Maize

To begin

PhD Students Research at IBRPage 3

Research in IBR mostly offers training opportunities to students of either M.Sc. or Ph.D. and always results into publications in scientific journals. The following is a list of new and current PhD. students research projects in IBR.

University flag ship project: Tissue culture bananas micropropagation at the IBR commercial laboratory

Aloe seedling in the Lab

Page 4

PRODUCTS DEVELOPED AT THE INSTITUTEApart from tissue culture roses and passion fruit, IBR commercially sells the following: tissue cultured bananas and aloes; mushrooms, briquettes from recycled paper and red worms (bred by the IBR organic demonstration farm)

Oyster mushroom

Breeding red worms for vermicomposting

TC banana in greenhouse.Energy saving briquettes from recycled paper

TC Aloe Vera in the greenhouse.

RESEARCH GRANTS FROM NCST TO IBRIBR has received an extra 2 research grants

from the National Council of Science and Technology (NCST). These include a grant to

Dr.Amos Alakonya “Characterization and bioactivity determination of wild psidium guava accessions in shimba hills and Yala

swamp of Kenya” , to Dr. Jutus Onguso for “ Development of food supplements using aloe

and algae in Kenya “

Change begins with the first bold stepCONTACTS

Institute for Biotechnology ResearchJomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and

TechnologyP.O. Box 62000, 00200 Nairobi KenyaTel: 254-67-52711/52181-4ext 2125

Fax: 254-67-52161Email: director@ibr.jkuat.ac.ke

JKUAT IS 9001:2008 ISO CERTIFIEDSetting trends in Higher Education, Research and Innovation