Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa

The African continent is vulnerable to food insecurity. Increased food costs, job losses, and climate change force Africans to chronic hunger. Biotechnology can be used to mitigate this by using techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 systems, TALENs, and ZFNs. Biotechnology can utilize geminiviruses to deli...

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Main Authors: Minenhle Felicia Zenda, Priscilla Masamba, Farhahna Allie, Abidemi Paul Kappo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-10-01
Series:Plants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/19/2768
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author Minenhle Felicia Zenda
Priscilla Masamba
Farhahna Allie
Abidemi Paul Kappo
author_facet Minenhle Felicia Zenda
Priscilla Masamba
Farhahna Allie
Abidemi Paul Kappo
author_sort Minenhle Felicia Zenda
collection DOAJ
description The African continent is vulnerable to food insecurity. Increased food costs, job losses, and climate change force Africans to chronic hunger. Biotechnology can be used to mitigate this by using techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 systems, TALENs, and ZFNs. Biotechnology can utilize geminiviruses to deliver the necessary reagents for precise genome alteration. Additionally, plants infected with geminiviruses can withstand harsher weather conditions such as drought. Therefore, this article discusses geminivirus replication and its use as beneficial plant DNA viruses. It focuses explicitly on genome editing to increase plant resistance by manipulating plants’ salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways.
format Article
id doaj-art-2adcae1197df4c5e9ffb6c19f45e4ec6
institution OA Journals
issn 2223-7747
language English
publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Plants
spelling doaj-art-2adcae1197df4c5e9ffb6c19f45e4ec62025-08-20T01:47:37ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472024-10-011319276810.3390/plants13192768Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in AfricaMinenhle Felicia Zenda0Priscilla Masamba1Farhahna Allie2Abidemi Paul Kappo3Department of Biochemistry, Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg 2006, South AfricaDepartment of Biochemistry, Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg 2006, South AfricaDepartment of Biochemistry, Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg 2006, South AfricaDepartment of Biochemistry, Auckland Park Kingsway Campus, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg 2006, South AfricaThe African continent is vulnerable to food insecurity. Increased food costs, job losses, and climate change force Africans to chronic hunger. Biotechnology can be used to mitigate this by using techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 systems, TALENs, and ZFNs. Biotechnology can utilize geminiviruses to deliver the necessary reagents for precise genome alteration. Additionally, plants infected with geminiviruses can withstand harsher weather conditions such as drought. Therefore, this article discusses geminivirus replication and its use as beneficial plant DNA viruses. It focuses explicitly on genome editing to increase plant resistance by manipulating plants’ salicylic acid and jasmonic acid pathways.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/19/2768Geminivirusesfood securitygenome editingagricultureAfricacrop improvement
spellingShingle Minenhle Felicia Zenda
Priscilla Masamba
Farhahna Allie
Abidemi Paul Kappo
Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
Plants
Geminiviruses
food security
genome editing
agriculture
Africa
crop improvement
title Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
title_full Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
title_fullStr Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
title_full_unstemmed Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
title_short Geminiviruses and Food Security: A Molecular Genetics Perspective for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
title_sort geminiviruses and food security a molecular genetics perspective for sustainable agriculture in africa
topic Geminiviruses
food security
genome editing
agriculture
Africa
crop improvement
url https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/19/2768
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