Yam is a major source of dietary starch for smallholder farm families in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. Despite its global importance, use of modern genomics tools that can facilitate the fundamental understanding of how to increase yam productivity and nutritional quality has lagged behind that of other major crops. The overall goal of this project is to address this missed opportunity and establish robust genetic and genomic resources for yams. The ultimate beneficiaries of these genome-enabled platforms for crop improvement are the female farmers who depend on yams for their livelihoods.
This project will develop effective tools for the fundamental understanding and genetic improvement of yam (Dioscorea rotundata), an important African staple crop. The specific objectives include (1) establishing an efficient genome editing platform using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) based site-directed mutagenesis system; and, (2) producing and characterizing CRISPR/Cas9-mutagenized yam plants. In addition to providing research training of postdoctoral associates and students, the project will develop and organize a two-week study abroad course in cooperation with IITA-Tanzania to provide Iowa State University undergraduate students practical exposure to the needs and opportunities in global agricultural research. The project will also provide short-term laboratory training experience for African female scientists as well as conduct a focused workshop at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Kenya) to share the latest transformation developments and genome editing protocols with African scientists. All genome-enabled resource for yams, including vectors, methods and plant materials, generated in this project will be distributed through the Iowa State University Center for Plant Transformation and IITA-Kenya.
