APBA Newsletter: Issue 6

February 25, 2023

APBA Newsletter: Issue 6

Update on APBAConf2023

The APBA in partnership with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University UM6P and several other institutions have the pleasure to announce the third Conference of the APBA #APBAConf2023. The conference will take place at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University UM6P, Morocco from October 23-27, 2023. The theme for the Conference is, “Leveraging Genetic Innovation for Resilient African Food Systems in the wake of Global Shocks”. We would like to extend an invitation to you to join a number of leading scientists and students across the globe as they present current research findings of their work.

Conference Website

Registration for APBAConf2023 will be open soon through the conference website. Kindly visit the APBA website for more information and updates on the conference website.

Call for Abstracts and Papers

Abstract submission guidelines

  • Abstracts must be submitted via the Conference website.

  • The presenting author is required to ensure that all co-authors are aware of the content of the abstract before submission.

  • All abstracts must be submitted and presented in clear English with accurate grammar and spelling of a quality suitable for publication.

  • You may submit more than 1 abstract. However, presenters accepted for oral presentation will be permitted to give only 1 oral presentation. Additionally accepted abstracts will therefore be poster only.

  • Abstracts must be allocated to a specific theme. Visit the conference website for complete listing of abstract themes.

  • Presenting author’s contact details: Email address

    • Full postal address

    • Phone number

    • Affiliation

Author and co-authors’ details

  • Full first and family name (s)

  • Affiliation details (Full postal address)

  • A title of abstract (a concise title formatted in Title Case, not UPPERCASE)

  • A clear and concise abstract of no more than 300 words in English

  • Abstract layout for writing: abstracts must be submitted with the following structure when writing: Background

    • Objectives

    • Methods

    • Results

    • Conclusions/implications

    • Keywords

  • On submission, indicate choice of submission (oral or poster). The selections committee may suggest otherwise upon review of the content of the abstract.

  • Oral presentations will have 10-minute time slots

PAG 30 Workshop by APBA

Leveraging Advances in Multi-Omics Technologies for Resilient Agri-Food Systems In Africa

Africa hosts some of the fastest growing economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture. However, crop breeding in the continent remains largely conventional and relatively slow despite huge investments in capacity building. The effects of climate change, the steady increase in population growth and the concerns for food and nutrition insecurity call for a revolution in the plant varietal development process. Although recent advances in modern breeding technologies and innovations in plant biology offer tremendous opportunities to significantly revolutionize the crop breeding landscape in Africa, they are not routinely utilized in major plant breeding programs and therefore, the impact has not been significant. Complete breeding modernization in Africa would require a multidisciplinary team of scientists and stakeholders working in tandem towards specific product profiles and leveraging “multi-omics” tools, technologies and methodologies. This workshop brings together a network of global scientists sharing the common interest of utilizing advanced technologies for crop improvement in Africa. We will showcase examples of successful deployment of these tools through global partnerships and networks. The presentations will address modern breeding topics including the deployment of gene editing, genomic selection, nutrigenomics, germplasm conservation and population genomics to solve some of Africa’s biggest crop improvement challenges such as drought, Striga spp, fall armyworm, just to mention a few. We look forward to building on these successes to move towards routine utilization of the advanced tools for crop improvement in Africa.

Speakers

  1. Application of gene editing in the improvement of African crops Leena Tripathi, IITA, Nairobi, Kenya

  2. Manipulation of breeder equation using genomic prediction: Strategies and Implementation Atanda Sikiru, North Dakota State University, USA

  3. Integrated “Omics” approaches for molecular marker discovery and deployment in maize breeding with focus on Striga resistance Melaku Gedil, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria

  4. Utilisation of “omics” technologies to exploit genetic resources Susan Moenga, ICRISAT, Nairobi, Kenya

  5. Application of Genome-Wide Association Studies in African Orphan Crops: Implications for Marker-Assisted and Genomic SelectionJulia Sibiya, Univ. of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

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