Project Aims to Develop Virus Resistant Cassava to Help Farmers Provide
Food for their Families

ST. LOUIS, MO September 6, 2011– The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced today that it has received additional funding totaling $11.9 million for the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project to advance its work to improve the health and wellbeing of farmers, their families, and other consumers of cassava living in Sub Saharan Africa.

Funds will be used to support Phase II of the humanitarian effort to develop and deliver farmer-preferred cassava varieties enhanced to resist serious plant virus diseases that are greatly reducing crop yield and increasing the threat of poverty and famine.

The additional funding came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ($5.6 million), The Monsanto Fund ($5.4 million) and the Howard Buffett Foundation ($860,000). VIRCA is also supported by USAID from the American people ($2.5 million).

Severely infected Cassava

Two products will be developed in VIRCA-II. The first product will incorporate siRNA-based resistance to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) in the popular cultivar TME204, which has natural resistance to Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and is favored by farmers in Uganda and the Lake Victoria region. “Delivery of CBSD resistant TME204 is the fastest route to address the CBSD epidemic” said Dr. Anton Bua, the Ugandan Cassava Research Team Leader in charge of field trials and communication for the project in East Africa. A second product will be developed in the highly popular, traditional Ebwanateraka cultivar in which virus sequences will be stacked to impart resistance to both CBSD and CMD. Known as the “Queen” of cassava for its taste and texture as well as its flexibility in harvesting time, Ebwanateraka has been virtually wiped out in the Uganda region due to the two viral diseases.

VIRCA-II is a collaboration between researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, MO, the NaCRRI, and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). The team will build on achievements made in VIRCA-I, during which gene silencing demonstrated success in controlling both diseases in transgenic cassava plants. Control of CMD associated with several-fold improvement in storage root yields was recently demonstrated in early field trials in Uganda.

“We are grateful for the support of our many partners for this important project. I have witnessed the devastation caused by CMD and CBSD, wiping out entire harvests, leaving many people on the verge of starvation. Our team is confident that the cassava we develop will improve the lives of millions of people allowing them to not only grow adequate food, but also to increase productivity so they might have enough money left over to educate their children and afford good medical care for malaria and other diseases they face,” said Dr.Claude Fauquet, principal investigator and director of ILTAB at The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, who serves as the lead investigator.

Cassava is one of the most important staple food crops for more than 200 million sub-Saharan Africans who derive 25 percent of their daily calorie intake from the starchy tuberous roots. In the East African countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi, approximately 130 million people depend on the crop and produce nearly 30 metric tons of cassava annually. Cassava also contributes more than any other single crop to household income, with 63 percent of households selling cassava products.

Despite its natural drought tolerance and ability to grow well on marginal lands, cassava is susceptible to various pathogens. At least one third of the continental harvest is lost each year to CMD alone. CBSD is considered to be among the most dangerous plant diseases in the world for the threat it poses to food and economic security throughout Africa. In the Lake Victoria area in East Africa, more than seven million people are at risk of famine each year because of CBSD threats. The enormous urgency posed by these viruses demands that appropriate tools be applied to solve the problem.

“In Uganda, we eat cassava two or three times per day. Restoring and improving cassava productivity will be key for the improving the economic progress of the country and the region,” said Dr. Titus Alicai, project lead, National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI).

In East Africa CBSD is considered a more immediate threat to cassava production than CMD because of the significant increase in geographical distribution in recent years and the dramatic effect this virus has on both yield and quality of cassava storage roots. CBSD symptoms are more subtle than CMD and may be hard to detect on leaves and stems, while causing severe necrosis in the edible storage roots and to the stems that are used to produce the next crop. Root necrosis, which can remain unnoticed until harvest, has a substantial impact on families that are dependent on the crop. Furthermore, stem cuttings produced from infected plants grow poorly or not at all, increasing chances that farmers will abandon the cultivation of cassava in severely affected regions, such as around Lake Victoria.

Roots infected with Cassava Brown Streak Disease

The enhanced cassava cultivars created by the VIRCA project will be readily available to farmers in the same way traditional cassava is being offered today and will have no royalty fees. This means farmers will be able to freely multiply, save and share their planting materials.

About Cassava

Cassava is a staple crop for more than 250 million sub-Saharan Africans. It grows productively in poor soils with little rainfall. Roots are consumed freshly boiled, or processed into a wide variety of granules, pastes and flours. Additionally, tubers can be left in the ground for up to three years. If drought or disease kills off other crops, farmer’s families can still fend off starvation by eating cassava.

About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science. The Danforth Center’s work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many sources, including the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development, the Howard Buffett Foundation, the Monsanto Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information please visit www.danforthcenter.org, featuring interactive information on the Center’s scientists, news and research. Follow us on Twitter at @DanforthCenter.

About The National Crop Resources Research Institute

The National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Namulonge is one of six public National Agricultural Research Institutes under the national Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) established by the Parliament of Uganda (National Agricultural Research Act, 2005). Originally established in 1949 as the Empire Cotton Research Station, NaCRRI was handed to the Uganda Government in 1972, and has since evolved into its present mandate to conduct research on all crops of strategic importance to the country. NaCRRI’s mission is to develop and disseminate appropriate productivity-enhancing crop technologies, methods and knowledge while conserving the environment and crop genetic resources. To fulfill its mandate, NaCRRI undertakes demand-driven basic, applied, strategic, participatory and adaptive research on cassava, bananas, beans, maize, rice, sweet potato, coffee, cocoa, tea, oil palm and a broad range of horticultural crops. Core research areas are in crop breeding, genetics, agronomy, crop diseases, crop pests, modern biotechnology, on-farm trials, confined field trials, socio-economic and livelihood studies. The National Cassava Programme based at NaCRRI is globally recognized as a leader in cassava research in Africa. As a result, it was recently elevated with a regional mandate to serve as the Cassava Regional Center of Excellence. In undertaking its research, NaCRRI collaborates with several institutions at national, regional and international levels. Key partners include national research institutions in Eastern Africa, CG Centers (IITA, CIP, CIMMYT, CIAT, IRRI), advanced institutions (Danforth Plant Science Center, NRI, BeCA, FERA), local and foreign universities. The Government of Uganda, local, regional and overseas donors provide the funding for activities at NaCRRI.

About The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

KARI was established under the Science and Technology Act of 1979 and is the premier national agricultural research institution contributing to the agricultural sector through generation of technologies, new knowledge and innovations and serving as a vehicle for economic development in Kenya. KARI contributes to sustainable improvements in the livelihoods of Kenyan citizens by increasing agricultural productivity, post-harvest value of agricultural and livestock products, and conserving the environment. In pursuit of this mission, KARI proactively seeks to acquire and contribute knowledge and creative solutions that are participatory and client-oriented, holistic, gender-sensitive and affordable to its stakeholders.

KARI places a high value on biotechnology and knows its potential to improve Kenyan agriculture. In designing its crop biotechnology program, KARI has sought to employ biotechnology first to complement the Institute’s traditional methods of doing crop and livestock improvement and secondly as a strategy for generating entirely new products. Collaborative technology development and transfer projects have proved especially effective in strengthening Kenya’s genetic engineering capabilities. The KARI Biotechnology Center is one of the very few African institutions with capacity and experience in the genetic transformation of crops. KARI was the first institution in Africa, outside of the Republic of South Africa, to conduct a confined field trial of a genetically-modified crop.

VIRCA II images

Infograph

Video:  Dr. Claude Fauquet, Principal Investigator

Danforth Plant Science Center Cassava Fact Sheet

VIRCA-II Timeline

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For more information, contact:

Karla Goldstein, (314) 587-1231,    kgoldstein@danforthcenter.org.

Melanie Bernds, (314) 587-1647,   mbernds@danforthcenter.org.

What is Cassava?

Cassava is a root crop that serves as the primary food source for more than 750 million people each day.  Although it has many properties that make it an important food across much of Africa and Asia, it also has many limitations.  Cassava has poor nutritional content and is susceptible to many pathogens, particularly in Africa, where one third of the continental harvest is lost each year to viral diseases.

In the East African countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi, approximately 130 million people depend on the crop and produce nearly 30 million tons of cassava annually.  Cassava also contributes more than any other single crop to household income, with 63% of households selling cassava products.

Despite its shortcomings, according to the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century, the land dedicated to growing cassava is predicted to continue to expand, as it is far more resistant to the effects of climate change than other competing crops in sub-Saharan Africa.<

The Danforth Plant Science Center has been the lead on two major projects to address two of the most important constraints to cassava production and utilization – poor nutritional content of foodstuffs derived from the cassava storage root and the plant’s susceptibility to virus disease.

VIRUS RESISTANT CASSAVA FOR AFRICA (VIRCA)

Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) represent the most serious threats to cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa.  Each year, CMD is responsible for a minimum of 30% losses of the harvest and CBSD has become an increasing threat in recent years.  Currently CBSD is ravaging cassava crops along the East African coast and around Lake Victoria, threatening millions of east Africans who rely on cassava for food.  The virus has been present on coastal farms for several decades but it never reached a serious economical level.  However the situation changed in 2004 when a CBSD epidemic started along the coast and a new virus emerged in highlands in East Africa (spread by the whitefly) and there has been an explosive pandemic-style spread since then in the whole region.  Farmers are desperate.

In East Africa CBSD is considered a more immediate threat to cassava production than CMD because of the significant increase in geographical distribution in recent years and the dramatic effect this virus has on both yield and quality of cassava storage roots.  CBSD symptoms are more subtle than CMD and may be hard to detect on leaves and stems, while causing severe necrosis in the edible storage roots and to the stems that are used to produce the next crop.  Root necrosis, which can remain unnoticed until harvest, has a significant impact on families dependent on the crop.  Furthermore, stem cuttings produced from infected plants grow poorly or not at all, increasing chances that farmers will abandon the cultivation of cassava in severely affected regions, such as around Lake Victoria.

The Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project represents a collaboration between the Danforth Plant Science Center, the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Uganda and the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) in Kenya to develop farmer-preferred cassava cultivars that are resistant to cassava virus diseases for delivery to African smallholder farmers thereby increasing root yields and food and economic security.  Its second goal is to increase research ownership and capacity in the target countries.  VIRCA is supported by funds contributed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Howard Buffett Foundation, USAID from the American People and the Monsanto Fund.

BIOCASSAVA PLUS

BioCassava Plus is an innovative research project that aims to reduce micronutrient malnutrition by increasing the nutritional value of cassava.  The project is focused on Africa, primarily Nigeria and Kenya, where cassava is a major staple food and other nutritious food is scarce, unavailable or too expensive.

More than 250 million sub-Saharan Africans rely on cassava as their major source of calories. However, a cassava-based diet does not provide complete nutrition and those who depend on cassava for food often suffer from chronic malnutrition, or insufficient intake of essential nutrients and vitamins including pro-vitamin A, iron and protein.  According to the World Health Organization, this malnutrition often leads to blindness and other illnesses, disability and death for an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 children each year.

BioCassava Plus is aimed at helping Africans avoid these devastating health consequences caused by delivering more nutritious, higher yielding, and more marketable cultivars of cassava.  The cassava being developed will contain beneficial amounts of beta-carotene, which the human body uses to make Vitamin A, iron and protein.  Beta-carotene is contained in various foods today, but those foods are often not readily available to many people in the developing world.

BioCassava Plus is being developed by world-class public researchers at nine institutions. Local Nigeria and Kenya public research institutions lead the efforts aimed at improving food security and nutrition in their countries. In Nigeria, researchers at the National Root Crop Research Institute are leading the way to ensure the varieties meet the needs of farmers. In Kenya, researchers at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute are leading the way. The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In Phase I of the project this team of BioCassava Plus researchers met or exceeded all targets to date.  During the past five years the research team has used the tools of modern biotechnology to develop cassava plants that have 30 times as much beta-carotene and four times as much iron as traditional cassava.  These increased levels reflect what is needed to furnish the minimum daily requirements for a child.

Danforth Plant Science Center scientists have experienced significant progress on several fronts on both of these projects.  Most importantly, in establishing multiple confined field trials of our transgenic cassava in Puerto Rico, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.  Data gathered from recent field trials further corroborated findings in the greenhouse and control of CMD associated with several-fold improvement in storage root yields was recently demonstrated convincingly in a confined field trial (CFT) in Uganda.

Ultimately researchers hope to combine VIRCA and BC Plus’ improved traits in order to allow smallholder farmers to grow more nutritious, virus resistant cassava, which would not only fight malnutrition, but improve economic opportunities as farmers move beyond subsistence agriculture to selling their surpluses at market.

Both the nutritionally fortified and virus resistant varieties of cassava will be available to farmers in the same way it is being offered today and will have no royalty fees.  This means farmers will be able to freely multiply, save and share their planting materials.

CAPACITY BUILDING

Training scientists from the world’s tropical regions in technologies of value to their agricultural systems is a central component of our mission.  Through enhancing the physical infrastructure and increasing human capacity in country, our goal is to establish functional cassava biotechnology laboratories in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria.  Researchers from each of these countries continue to receive training at our facilities on the transgenic technologies required to improve cassava.

The Danforth Plant Science Center will continue to play a pivotal role in developing and applying the most modern scientific and business thinking to the age-old problem of providing food, plant, fiber and energy products to the people of the world in ways that can be sustained for generations to come.

Although much of the Danforth Plant Science Center’s international efforts have been focused on cassava, there is also significant research underway to develop more nutritious, protein-enhanced peanut to improve virus resistance in sweet potato.  Each of the programs has engaged research partners in Africa and active collaborations are ongoing.

On Sept 6, 2011, The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced that it received additional funding totalling $11.9 million for the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project to advance its work to improve the health and wellbeing of more than 200 million farmers, their families, and other consumers of cassava living in Sub Saharan Africa.

Funds will be used to support Phase II of the humanitarian effort to develop and deliver farmer-preferred cassava varieties enhanced to resist serious plant virus diseases that are greatly reducing crop yield and increasing the threat of poverty and famine. 

Despite its natural drought tolerance and ability to grow well on marginal lands, cassava is susceptible to various pathogens.  At least one third of the continental harvest is lost each year to Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) alone.  Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD), another viral cassava disease, is considered to be among the most dangerous plant diseases in the world for the threat it poses to food and economic security throughout Africa.  In the Lake Victoria area in East Africa, more than seven million people are at risk of famine each year because of CBSD threats.  The enormous urgency posed by these viruses demands that appropriate tools be applied to solve the problem

Here’s a look back on VIRCA project’s history:

In 1988, the first coordinated effort to bring the tools of modern plant biotechnology to focus on the improvement of cassava was initiated at a meeting of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT, its Spanish Acronym), held in Cali, Colombia. This meeting led to the establishment of the Cassava Biotechnology Network (CBN).  CBN was coordinated by Dr. Willie Roca from CIAT and Dr. Claude Fauquet from IRD (France), with the goal of creating a consortium of scientists dedicated to improving cassava through biotechnology.

In 1996, the first successful transgenic cassava was developed by Drs. Claude Fauquet and Ingo Potrykus using transgenes expressing visible marker phenotypes.  Dr. Fauquet was the co-director of the International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology (ILTAB), based at The Scripps Research Institute, and heavily supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.  Dr. Ingo Potrykus, the creator of Golden Rice, was independently working at the ETH-Zurich.

- In 2001, two days after the Grand Opening of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Dr. Fauquet hosted the Fifth International Scientific Meeting of CBN at the new state-of-the-art facility, gathering more than 250 cassava scientists from all over the world.

- In 2002, following a meeting held at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Drs. Claude Fauquet and Joe Tohme (from CIAT) founded the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21^st Century (GCP21), which includes representatives from 45 different institutions, working to spur the momentum raised by CBN, with a goal of reaching several important milestones for cassava research.

- In 2004, Dr. Fauquet and his team demonstrated for the first time the control of geminiviruses, causing the cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in Africa and India, using genetic engineering.

- In 2005, The Monsanto Fund announced a $6.5 million grant to the Danforth Plant Science Center to support Virus Resistance for Cassava in Africa (VIRCA).  The humanitarian project’s goals included controlling cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in East Africa; developing a cassava transformation pipeline at the Danforth Plant Science Center; the creation of a CassavaTracker system to account for all the transgenic plants produced; and the development of two small campuses in Uganda (NaCCRI) and Kenya (KARI) to host local scientists trained at the Danforth Plant Science Center.  Dr. Fauquet was appointed Scientific Director and Lawrence Kent was appointed Product Development Director. 

- In January 2008, the VIRCA team broadened its scope to include the control of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) to the project, in response to a very serious outbreak of CBSD throughout East Africa.  In order to reach the goal of increasing food security and product acceptance for African farmers, it was apparent that new cassava products developed for this region needed to possess CBSD resistance in addition to CMD resistance.

In October 2009, the USAID, a long-term supporter of the cassava program, granted a supplemental award of $2.5 million over five years, to identify farmer-preferred varieties in Uganda and Kenya, to complement the training of young scientists from these countries and to accelerate the translational aspects of VIRCA.

- In October 2009, VIRCA collaborators from NaCCRI (NARO) in Uganda, planted the first confined field trial (CFT) of transgenic cassava to verify CMDcontrol in the fields, of the most important cassava geminivirus in East Africa; the East African cassava mosaic virus (EACMV).

- In November 2009, Dr. Fauquet, along with a group of scientists from 12 Universities in the United States, announced the completion of the cassava genome sequence.

- in September 2010, the VIRCA team in NaCCRI harvested the first CFT of virus resistant transgenic cassava plants and demonstrated that resistant plants could produce seven times more cassava than a control plant, hereby demonstrating the power of these modern technologies and the potential gain for small holder farmers.

In October and November 2010, three more CFTs were planted in Namulonge, Uganda, two for CMD control and one for CBSD control. One of the two CMD trials used cuttings taken from of the first CFT planted in 2009, in order to grow transgenic cassava in the same way that farmers are growing.

- In November 2010, Drs. Claude Fauquet and Joe Tohme (from CIAT) organized the second strategic meeting of the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21^st Century (GCP21) at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, gathering members of 25 different institutions, to review milestones and establish new objectives for the future.  The impact of global warming was also a major topic of discussion, as well as the implications of the cassava genomic efforts.

- In December 2010, The Howard Buffett Foundation awarded a bridge grant of $860k to allow the VIRCA team to continue its work until the second Phase of VIRCA (VIRCA-II) could be formulated and funded.

- In April 2011, the VIRCA-II funding was officially awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation ($5.6 million) and the Monsanto fund ($5.4 million), beginning June 1, 2011 for five years.  This phase will include the production of two products for East Africa; TME204 which is already CMD resistant and will be improved to be CBSD resistant and Ebwanateraka, which will be enhanced to be both CMD and CBSD resistant. 

- In May 2011, the VIRCA team in Uganda confirmed the results of CMD control in the second CFT and also in the third CFT, which were planted with cuttings from the first CFT, confirming that the technology can continue for at least two generations of exposure in the fields.  Researchers also gathered the first data from the CBSD CFT, which indicated a high probability that this disease could also be controlled with the same type of technology.

- In May 2011, the first CFT for CMD control was planted in KARI-Alupe, Kenya.

- In July 2011, the first application to conduct a CFT to test CBSD control was submitted by KARI to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) in Kenya.

VIRCA plants will be available to farmers in the same way it is being offered today and will have no royalty fees.  This means farmers will be able to freely multiply, save and share their planting materials.

For additional information, contact: Karla Goldstein, (314) 587-1231, kgoldstein@danforthcenter.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Discovery has the potential to improve the lives of millions living in developing countries

ST. LOUIS, MO, July 30, 2010 – Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) is emerging as one of the biggest threats to cassava cultivation in East Africa.  An international team of researchers led by Dr. Claude M. Fauquet, principal investigator, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have discovered that the devastating Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) can be controlled using RNA interference technology (RNAi).  RNAi is a natural defense mechanism of plants and other organisms including humans, and the technique consists of “teaching” the plant to recognize virus sequences in advance, so that it is ready to act when the real virus attacks.

Fauquet and his team focused on the two different viruses causing the disease; Cassava brown streak virus, present mainly in the coastal lowlands of Tanzania and Mozambique, and the Cassava brown streak Uganda virus, present mainly in the highlands of East Africa.  The results of this research are published in the article,  “RNAi-mediated resistance to diverse isolates belonging to two virus species involved in cassava brown streak disease,“  in the journal, Molecular Plant Pathology. 

Cassava is a root crop that serves as a primary food source for more than 700 million people in the world.  Although it has many properties that make it an important food across much of Africa and Asia, it also has many limitations.  For example, cassava has poor nutritional content, lacking protein and vitamin A, iron and zinc, and is susceptible to many pathogens, particularly in Africa, where one third of the continental harvest is lost each year to viral diseases like Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD).  With the risk of significant losses in annual cassava crops, CBSD is currently one of the major threats to food security in some parts of Eastern Africa.

In the course of their research, three different DNA genes were developed using sequences from the highland Cassava brown streak Ugandan virus.  These were inserted into the genome of Nicotiana benthamiana, a model host since production of transgenic cassava is time consuming and hard to screen for CBSD resistance.  These sequences targeted the coat protein of the virus, a method that has successfully been used to combat the Papaya ring spot virus and the Plum pox virus. The results of their research showed that the plants with these inserted genes demonstrated a surprisingly high degree of resistance not only to the Ugandan virus from which the coat protein gene was used, but to Cassava brown streak virus, the second virus causing the disease.  This marks the first time that the RNAi technology induced resistance to members of two distinct virus species.

“The Cassava brown streak disease is very unique in many ways. There are very severe necrosis symptoms in the stems and in the roots of the infected plants, rendering its consumption and propagation impossible for poor farmers.  With these results we now know that we can control the viruses causing the disease,” said Fauquet.

Currently Fauquet and his team are in the process of replicating these tests with cassava and hope to have the results available in the next few months, first in the greenhouse followed by confined field trials in East Africa.  The ultimate goal of this research is to have two CBSD resistant cassava products ready for testing by African smallholder farmers by the year 2015.  With early results showing great progress, many people, including government regulators, are hoping to see these products available sooner than later.

“This disease is unprecedented on cassava, and is spreading very quickly in East Africa, large numbers of farmers around the Lake Victoria are out of cassava material to plant for the next season and the international community has to respond immediately to help these farmers to avoid a human catastrophy.  The present results are very encouraging and have paved the way for making very important improvements to cassava that will greatly assist millions who depend on this important crop for food and nourishment,” said Fauquet.

About The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Founded in 1998, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science. Research at the Danforth Center will feed the hungry and improve human health, preserve and renew the environment, and enhance the St. Louis region and Missouri as a world center for plant science.  The Center’s work is funded through competitive grants and contract revenue from many sources, including the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center invites you to visit its new website, www.danforthcenter.org; featuring interactive information on the Center’s research, scientists, news and public education outreach. RSS feeds and the brand new “Roots & Shoots” blog allow visitors to keep up to date with Center’s current operations and areas of research.

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The New York Times
Virus Ravages Cassava Plants in Africa
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: May 31, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/science/01cassava.html?scp=1&sq=cassava%20brown%20streak&st=cse

June 6-7, 2010
Le virus de la striure brune menace l’alimentation en manioc de millions d’Africains
par Bertrand d’Armagnac

http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2010/06/05/le-virus-de-la-striure-brune-menace-l-alimentation-en-manioc-de-millions-d-africains_1368272_3244.html