Implications of epigenetic variation during nodal micropropagation for substantive equivalence analysis: case study Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)
| dc.contributor.author | Kitimu, Shedrack Reuben | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-12T11:50:51Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-12T11:50:51Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
| dc.description | Dissertation | |
| dc.description.abstract | Transgenic plants are rapidly being adopted in parts of the world as a result of increased food demand due to growing population and decrease in agricultural production following dramatic changes in environment. Transgenic crops are accepted for import for food and feeds use and for release into the environment in different countries in the world. For vegetative propagated plants, there is always a phytosanitary concern for international exchange of materials, which require the use of tissue culture as a means to produce virus free plantlets that can then be transported across international boundaries without presenting a quarantine hazard. Although in vitro propagation systems that are based on the use of micro cuttings are widely viewed as being analogous to field cuttings, much is not known about the possible epigenetic changes induced by this type of micropropagation. In this study, we survey for epigenetic changes during propagation by node culture and by field cuttings of five cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) varieties. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiles revealed by Methylation Sensitive Amplified Polymorphism (MSAP) uncovered consistent epigenetic differences between clonal materials recovered from in vitro nodes and from those produced from stem cuttings. Also, the observed epigenetic variance between different organs from the same plant was greater between tissues from field grown plants than that observed between organs secured from in vitro propagated plants. In this study we uncover differential methylation markers at several loci that could be implicated at organ differentiation and maturation in cassava. We explore the significance of these findings when seeking to predict potential effects to transgenic cassava when imported in tissue culture form and its consequences to the crop physiology and performance during field trials before it is proved substantially equivalent to their traditional local isogenic comparators. vi | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/20.500.14820/7398 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Sokoine University of Agriculture | |
| dc.subject | Transgenic plants | |
| dc.subject | Agricultural production | |
| dc.subject | Food demand | |
| dc.title | Implications of epigenetic variation during nodal micropropagation for substantive equivalence analysis: case study Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) | |
| dc.type | Thesis |