Explore the vast range of titles available.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), plantains ( Musa spp.) are a staple crop and a vital source of income for smallholder farmers. Despite their importance, the microbial diversity of soils in plantain-growing agroecologies remains poorly understood—particularly how it may influence plant performance and resilience through soil–plant interactions. In this study, we used Illumina MiSeq-based 16S rDNA sequencing to characterize bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of plantains cultivated under two distinct agroecological settings: Backyard gardens and main farms. Analyses of alpha and beta diversity (Sobs, Chao1, ACE, Shannon–Wiener, and Simpson indices; P  < 0.05) revealed significant differences in species richness and community structure between the two agroecologies. Actinobacteria (55%) emerged as the dominant phylum, followed by Proteobacteria (21%) and Acidobacteria (15%). Beneficial genera such as Bacillus , Streptomyces , Bradyrhizobium , and Paenibacillus were also detected. Functional predictions based on COG and KEGG databases indicated notable differences in microbial functional potential between the two settings. These results suggest that agroecological context and habitat type strongly influence rhizosphere microbial diversity, with important implications for enhancing plant–microbe interactions and supporting crop resilience in SSA’s resource-limited smallholder systems.

Background Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease is a significant constraint for maize producers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The disease decimates the maize crop, in some cases, causing total crop failure with far-reaching impacts on regional food security. Results In this review, we analyze the impacts of MLN in Africa, finding that resource-poor farmers and consumers are the most vulnerable populations. We examine the molecular mechanism of MLN virus transmission, role of vectors and host plant resistance identifying a range of potential opportunities for genetic and phytosanitary interventions to control MLN. We discuss the likely exacerbating effects of climate change on the MLN menace and describe a sobering example of negative genetic association between tolerance to heat/drought and susceptibility to viral infection. We also review role of microRNAs in host plant response to MLN causing viruses as well as heat/drought stress that can be carefully engineered to develop resistant varieties using novel molecular techniques. Conclusions With the dual drivers of increased crop loss due to MLN and increased demand of maize for food, the development and deployment of simple and safe technologies, like resistant cultivars developed through accelerated breeding or emerging gene editing technologies, will have substantial positive impact on livelihoods in the region. We have summarized the available genetic resources and identified a few large-effect QTLs that can be further exploited to accelerate conversion of existing farmer-preferred varieties into resistant cultivars.

Plantain (Musa spp.) is a staple food crop and an important source of income for millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there is a paucity of knowledge on soil microbial diversity in agroecologies where plantains are grown. Microbial diversity that increases plant performance with multi-trophic interactions involving resiliency to environmental constraints is greatly needed. For this purpose, the bacterial and fungal communities of plantain fields in high rainfall forests (HR) and derived savannas (SV) were studied using Illumina MiSeq for 16S rDNA and ITS amplicon deep sequencing. Microbial richness (α- and β-diversity), operational taxonomic units, and Simpson and Shannon—Wiener indexes (observed species (Sobs), Chao, ACE; P < 0.05) suggested that there were significant differences between HR and SV agroecologies among the most abundant bacterial communities, and some specific dynamic response observed from fungal communities. Proteobacteria formed the predominant bacterial phylum (43.7%) succeeded by Firmicutes (24.7%), and Bacteroidetes (17.6%). Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Zygomycota were the three most dominant fungal phyla in both agroecologies. The results also revealed an immense array of beneficial microbes in the roots and rhizosphere of plantain, including Acinetobacter, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas spp. COG and KEGG Orthology database depicted significant variations in the functional attributes of microbes found in the rhizosphere to roots. This result indicates that the different agroecologies and host habitats differentially support the dynamic microbial profile and that helps in altering the structure in the rhizosphere zone for the sake of promoting synergistic host-microbe interactions particularly under resource-poor conditions of SSA.

Striga hermonthica is a hemiparasitic weed that causes huge grain yield losses to small-scale farmers in Africa. Effective biocontrol agents against S. hermonthica can sustainably mitigate these losses. This study characterized the biocontrol potential of culturable fungal and bacterial isolates from S. hermonthica suppressive soils of western Kenya. These isolates were screened for their ability to produce antibiotic compounds and extra cellular enzymes and also their ability to cause S. hermonthica seed decay. Genomic DNA of the selected bacterial and fungal isolates was extracted and partial characterization of 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes performed respectively. Analysis show that antibiosis and enzymatic properties of potential biocontrol isolates correlated positively. Isolate KY041696 recorded high antibiosis, enzymatic and seed decay values. This study also revealed that bioactive bacterial isolates belonged to Bacillus , Streptomyces and Rhizobium genera. In this study, no fungal isolate caused S. hermonthica seed decay. This study therefore provides baseline information on the potential biocontrol microbes against S. hermonthica in Western Kenya that could be exploited further in the management of the weed.

Key message We report success of host-induced gene silencing in downregulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus infecting maize transformed with a hairpin construct targeting transcription factor aflR . Infestation of crops by aflatoxin-producing fungi results in economic losses as well as negative human and animal health effects. Currently, the control strategies against aflatoxin accumulation are not effective to the small holder farming systems in Africa and this has led to widespread aflatoxin exposure especially in rural populations of sub-Saharan Africa that rely on maize as a staple food crop. A recent strategy called host-induced gene silencing holds great potential for developing aflatoxin-resistant plant germplasm for the African context where farmers are unable to make further investments other than access to the germplasm. We transformed maize with a hairpin construct targeting the aflatoxin biosynthesis transcription factor aflR . The developed transgenic maize were challenged with an aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strain from Eastern Kenya, a region endemic to aflatoxin outbreaks. Our results indicated that aflR was downregulated in A. flavus colonizing transgenic maize. Further, maize kernels from transgenic plants accumulated significantly lower levels of aflatoxins (14-fold) than those from wild type plants. Interestingly, we observed that our silencing cassette caused stunting and reduced kernel placement in the transgenic maize. This could have been due to “off-target” silencing of unintended genes in transformed plants by aflR siRNAs. Overall, this work indicates that host-induced gene silencing has potential in developing aflatoxin-resistant germplasm.

Guava ( Psidium guajava L ) is native to South America and exists as both wild and cultivated. Guava has been used as a source of food and raw materials for pharmaceuticals. The aim of this study was to determine bioactivity of methanol and water extracts from root and leaves of Kenyan guava landraces against selected pathogenic bacteria. Study samples were collected from Western and South Coast of Kenya. One hundred grams of leaf and root ground powders were used for sequential extraction using methanol and water. Extracts were evaporated and 0.2gms dissolved using the extraction solvent and tested against gram positive ( Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis ) and negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) . Data on inhibition zone was taken in mm and analyzed at 95% confidence interval. Extracts from Western region had significant inhibition compared to Coastal region. The two regions have different climatic conditions that result in these plants having different compounds even though they are the same species. Roots had higher inhibition compared to the leaves as they contain high levels of tannins compared to leaves. Water as an extracting solvent had higher inhibition than methanol as it is more polar and it absorbs more bioactive compounds. S. aureus was most inhibited followed by E. coli and B. subtilis respectively. There was no significant difference between the gram positive and negative bacteria. Remarkably, some methanol and water root extracts had significant inhibition against bacteria when compared to some commercial antibiotics used. Results of this study indicate that Kenyan guava roots from Western Kenya extracted with methanol and water have a potential to be used as a source of active compounds in treatment of gram positive and gram negative bacteria pathogens.