Biology subjects

Warsame, A. O.

Publications and source records attributed to Warsame, A. O..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Production Status, Breeding Priorities and Genetic Resources of Cowpea in Post-Civil War Somalia

Over the past three decades, Somalia has faced recurrent civil conflicts and prolonged droughts, leading to widespread displacement of farming communities. These disruptions have weakened traditional seed systems and potentially damaged local crop diversity. In this context, to strengthen the countrys food security and climate change adaptation of smallholder farmers, there is an urgent need to revive agricultural research and breeding programs for the main food crops grown in the country. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is the most important food crop after maize and sorghum in Somalia, providing inexpensive protein for humans and biologically fixed nitrogen for low-input crop production systems in the country. This study assessed the current status of cowpea production, identified breeding priorities across three agroecological zones in southern Somalia, and established a core germplasm collection for future breeding programs. Farmer surveys were conducted in Baidoa, Afgoie, and Jowhar, involving interviews with 150 farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results showed that over 60% of farmers cultivate cowpea for both household consumption and market purposes. While the crop is predominantly grown as an intercrop, nearly 45% of farmers in Afgoie grow it as a sole crop. Marked regional differences were observed in varietal preferences, with farmers in Afgoie favouring erect, uniformly maturing cultivars with a dark-red seed colour, whereas other regions demonstrated more diverse preferences. Production constraints also varied by location, with drought identified as the primary limitation in Baidoa, and pests and diseases as the major challenges in Afgoie and Jowhar. Accordingly, farmers ranked early maturity as the top breeding priority in Baidoa, whereas disease and pest resistance were the primary targets in Afgoie. Furthermore, we established a germplasm collection representing Somalias cowpea diversity from both the pre- and post-war periods. The collection also includes a subset of global cowpea diversity and accessions with known desirable agronomic traits. These genetic resources, together with farmer survey data, provide a foundation for targeted breeding efforts aimed at improving cowpea productivity and enhancing food security in Somalia in the future.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2025

An optimized high-throughput colorimetric assay for phytic acid quantification

Phytic acid (PA) is the primary storage form of phosphorus in seeds and is considered an anti-nutritional factor due to its ability to chelate essential minerals, thereby reducing their bioavailability. However, identifying low-PA mutants in large populations requires a cost-effective, accurate, and high-throughput screening method. Gao et al. (2007) developed a colorimetric method that is cost-effective and accurate for quantifying PA in soybeans. However, the throughput of this method was relatively low. In this study, we modified some critical steps of the original protocol to improve throughput. The accuracy and reproducibility of the modified protocol were validated by comparison with those of the original method and a commercially available PA quantification kit. The new high-throughput protocol showed high reproducibility and successfully distinguished existing low-PA mutants from their wild-type parent. The protocol was then used to screen 202 accessions from a pea diversity panel, which revealed wide genetic variation in PA content. We identified two novel low-PA accessions, JI0383 and JI3253, with 69% and 48% reductions in PA, respectively, compared to the population mean. This cost-effective method is expected to help researchers and breeders accelerate the development of low-PA crops to meet the current demands for high-quality plant-based foods.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2022

The giant diploid faba genome unlocks variation in a global protein crop

Increasing the proportion of locally produced plant protein in currently meat-rich diets could substantially reduce greenhouse gas emission and loss of biodiversity. However, plant protein production is hampered by the lack of a cool-season legume equivalent to soybean in agronomic value. Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) has a high yield potential and is well-suited for cultivation in temperate regions, but genomic resources are scarce. Here, we report a high-quality chromosome-scale assembly of the faba bean genome and show that it has grown to a massive 13 Gb in size through an imbalance between the rates of amplification and elimination of retrotransposons and satellite repeats. Genes and recombination events are evenly dispersed across chromosomes and the gene space is remarkably compact considering the genome size, though with significant copy number variation driven by tandem duplication. Demonstrating practical application of the genome sequence, we develop a targeted genotyping assay and use high-resolution genome-wide association (GWA) analysis to dissect the genetic basis of hilum colour. The resources presented constitute a genomics-based breeding platform for faba bean, enabling breeders and geneticists to accelerate improvement of sustainable protein production across Mediterranean, subtropical, and northern temperate agro-ecological zones.

plant biology↗