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Banana Xanthomonas Wilt
Banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) is caused by a gram-negative bacterium, Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum (Xcm). Bacteria Xanthomonas campestris in general are a serious problem in crop productivity as they cause diseases of significant importance. This group was ranked in fifth position among the top 10 bacterial plant pathogens according to a survey by Mansfield et al. (2012). No wonder BXW is the most devastating disease of bananas in Africa‟s Great Lakes region (Kalyebara et al., 2006). BXW was first reported in Ethiopia in Ensete species more than 45 years ago and then in banana (Yirgou and Bradbury, 1968; 1974).
Outside Ethiopia it was reported in 2001 in the Mukono district of central Uganda, since then BXW has spread to all banana growing regions of the country as well as to other countries in the Great Lakes region namely Rwanda, (Reeder et al., 2007), Democratic Republic of Congo (Ndungo et al., 2006), Burundi Tanzania, and Kenya (Mwangi et al., 2006). Production loss of about 53% resulting into an estimated economic loss at about $2 – $8 billion over a 10 year period was envisaged (Abele and Pillay, 2007). The disease is mainly transmitted from one plant to another within the field by flying insects and also repeated use of infected plant cuttings in new plantations (Biruma et al., 2007).
Disease symptoms include premature and uneven ripening of the inflorescence, rotting of fruits, wilting, yellowing and eventual death of leaves, Figure 1.1. This is followed by gradual collapsing of the entire plant during the terminal stages of infection (Mwangi et al., 2007). A number of cultural practices have been applied to manage BXW disease. These include removal of the male bud to prevent flower infection by insects (Ssekiwoko et al., 2006; Biruma et al., 2007; Tripathi et al., 2009), complete removal of the entire mat once there is infection of a single plant (Adikin, 2010), and sterilization of garden tools using sodium hypo-chloride (Smith et al., 2008).
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Importance of banana .
1.2 Banana Xanthomonas Wilt
1.3 Pathogen-plant interactions
1.4. Plant defence systems .
1.5. Over-expression of defence-related proteins in transgenic plants .
1.6 Genetically modified banana in Uganda .
1.7. Working hypothesis and objectives
CHAPTER TWO . CONSTRUCTION OF A STACKED Hrap and Pflp PLASMID VECTOR
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Materials and Methods
2.3 Results
2.4 Discussion
CHAPTER THREE GENERATION AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF TRANSGENIC BANANA
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Materials and Methods
3.3 Results
3.4 Discussion
CHAPTER FOUR PHENOPTYPING OF TRANSGENIC BANANA PLANTS
4.1 Introduction
4.3 Results
4.4 Discussion
CHAPTER FIVE DEFENSE RELATED GENES EXPRESSION IN TRANSGENIC BANANA PLANTS
CHAPTER SIX GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
References .
