Cassava Genetic Transformation and its Application in Breeding

• Published in: Journal of integrative plant biology 2011-07, Vol.53 (7), p.552-569
• Main Authors: Liu, Jia, Zheng, Qijie, Ma, Qiuxiang, Gadidasu, Kranthi Kumar, Zhang, Peng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Application; Breeding; genetic transformation; Manihot - genetics; Manihot - physiology; Manihot esculenta; Manihot esculenta Crantz; molecular breeding; Pest Control, Biological; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - physiology; 亚热带地区; 加工技术; 应用; 木薯; 淀粉品质; 生物强化; 育种; 遗传转化
• ISSN: 1672-9072; 1744-7909
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7909.2011.01048.x

As a major source of food, cassava （Manihot esculenta Crantz） is an important root crop in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Latin America, and serves as raw material for the production of starches and bioethanol in tropical Asia. Cassava improvement through genetic engineering not only overcomes the high heterozygosity and serious trait separation that occurs in its traditional breeding, but also quickly achieves improved target traits. Since the first report on genetic transfor- mation in cassava in 1996, the technology has gradually matured over almost 15 years of development and has overcome cassava genotype constraints, changing from mode cultivars to farmer-preferred ones. Significant progress has been made in terms of an increased resistance to pests and diseases, biofortification, and improved starch quality, building on the fundamental knowledge and technologies related to planting, nutrition, and the processing of this important food crop that has often been neglected. Therefore.cassava has great potential-in food security and bioenergy development worldwide.