The grant will support research to validate the improved semi-dwarf tef in Ethiopia under greenhouse and multi-location field conditions and generate lodging resistance traits in already improved breeding lines. "By harnessing the genome editing technology, it was possible to achieve semi-dwarf lodging resistant lines that breeders have been looking for decades," said Getu Duguma, PhD, senior research scientist and principal investigator at the Danforth Center. Tef (Eragrostis tef) is the largest cereal cultivated by area in Ethiopia. To address the issue of tef lodging, Duguma and his collaborators deployed gene editing to generate semi-dwarf tef lines that are 10-50% shorter than the original. These improved lines have demonstrated lodging resistance in the Danforth Center's greenhouse and Field Research Site.

Source: Ethiopian News March 08, 2024 01:48 UTC