What is IITA

1
International biotech partnerships with Africa
CGIAR-IITA
2
Agro-biotechnology

• Tissue culture and micropropagation
• Recombinant DNA and diagnostics
• Transgenics and GM-food, -feed, -fiber
• Genomics and marker-aided introgression and
  selection
• (Biosafety and IPR management)

3
Agro-biotechnology levels

• Product users import germplasm ensuing from
  biotech process for testing or for crossing
  blocks with local material
• Tool users import tools for molecular breeding,
  adapting tool to local environments when needed
• Methods innovators research to establish full
  capacity (both products and tools) for molecular
  breeding

4
US patents in key crops (lt 2000)
gt1985
Total
Crop
gt1985
Total
Crop
73
400
Flax
86
26723
Apple
93
350
Canola
68
13487
Rice
87
326
Pea
68
10511
Maize
78
290
Alfalfa
62
5563
Cotton
65
234
Beet
71
2136
Wheat
71
231
Squash
76
1980
Soybean
72
253
Legumes
69
1674
Potato
77
62
Papaya
77
959
Tomato
79
909
Barley
76
66088
Total
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Intellectual property rights and international
public goods

• Legal forms of property protection patents,
  plant breeders rights, MTAs, technology use
  agreements, bag label contracts, trade secrets,
  commercial contracts and licenses
• Freedom-to-operate licensing germplasm for
  biotech tools, cross-licensing, joint ventures
  with private sector holding biotechnology,
  licensing (gratis), making common cause for
  sharing biotechnology, alliance with independent
  developers of biotech tools, use legally
  proprietary tools in host country and allow
  recipients to deal with claims on ensuing biotech
  products in other country

6
Nucleotide sequences in GenBank (4/02)
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Agro-biotechnology strategy for a CGIAR
center - IITA

• Conduct applied biotech research to address the
  food and income needs
• Transfer, in collaboration with partners, biotech
  products from labs to markets
• Serve as a platform for biotech transfer between
  advanced labs and NARS
• Enhance selected NARS capacity to apply and
  monitor biotech via comprehensive interactions
  and training-through-research programs

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Transformation Methods
Gene gun Agrobacterium
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Testing Transgenics
Containment Facility and Biosafety
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Available transgenic technology for sub-Saharan
Africa

• Insect resistant crops cotton, maize, potato,
  sweetpotato
• Viral resistant crops potato, sweetpotato,
  papaya, (squash?)
• Herbicide tolerant crops? cotton, maize,
  soybean, (canola)
• Delayed ripening (melon, tomato?)

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Benefits from transgenic crops
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GM-crops and pesticide use

• RR-soybean, RR-canola, Bt-maize, Bt-cotton
  reduced pesticide use by 22.3 million kg of
  formulated product in year 2000
• In EU (ex-ante analysis) IF 50 GM-maize,
  -canola, -sugar beet and cotton THEN pesticide
  use down by 14.5 million kg of product (4.6 M kg
  active ingredient), 7.5 M ha sprayed less (i.e.,
  savings of 20.5 million liters diesel, thereby
  avoiding 73,000 t CO2 into atmosphere)

From R.P. Phipps J.R. Park (2002)
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Timeframe for a transgenic cultivar
  Year 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
----------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
-----------? Trait discovery/optimization Elite
event selection process Regulatory
process--------------   Introgression   P
arent seed production   Commercial
production -----------Product
launch----------- Branding/pricing
Pre-marketing
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CGIAR centers biotech supply for SSA
Crops
Training
DNA Marker
GM-tech
Tissue Culture
In Colombia
map/QTL
cassava
routine
CIAT
In Mexico
map/QTL
maize, wheat
CIMMYT
In Perú
map/QTL
potato, sweetpotato
routine
CIP
In India
map/QTL
legumes
ICRISAT
In SSA
map/QTL
cassava, Musa
routine
IITA
with ARIs
genomics
Musa
routine
IPGRI
In Côte dIvoire
Double-haploids
map/QTL
WARDA
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Some examples of on-going CGIAR-NARS biotech
partnership projects in sub-Saharan Africa

• CIAT bean biofortification
• CIMMYT QTL mapping in maize at Kenya and
  Zimbabwe drought, insects, MSV, QPM
• IRMA Insect-Resistance Maize for Africa
• CIP micropropagation of pathogen-tested potato
  and sweetpotato

• ICRISAT-IITA-ILRI Plant Biodiversity and
  Genomics Center in Nairobi
• IITA Nigerian Biotech Program
• IPGRI-IITA Musa biotechnology in Uganda
• ISNAR Capacity building on biosafety, planning
  and priority setting, IPR
• WARDA NERICA

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IITA AgroBiotech R4D in SSA
Crops
Finger-printing
DNA Marker
GM-tech
Tissue Culture
pest, gpl
map/QTL
In-house
routine
Cassava
pest, gpl
map/QTL
n/a
routine
Yams
pest, gpl genome
map/QTL
in-house GUS
routine
Banana/plantain
gpl
map/QTL
available
Maize
gpl
map/QTL
in dev.
Cowpea
available
available
Soybean
starting
starting
starting
Cocoa
Available from lab or biotech company in North
America
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CGIARs Emerging Niche Developing new paradigms
in breeding

• Catalyzing lateral linkages
• Genomics Germplasm Breeding Bioinformatics
• Releasing the power of HTP genotyping
• Public domain molecular breeding packages

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The Role of Molecular Breeding in Poverty
Alleviation

• Enhanced food production
• Support increases in population plus fuel
  economic development
• Advances in crop productivity
• Augmentation of traditional plant breeding
• Critical role of applied agro-biotechnology
• More rapid and efficient plant breeding plus
  achieving new goals

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Landholder development trajectory
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Breeding Paradigm

• Replacement of old cultivars by new genotypes
  with better fitness to environmental gradients
• Farmers and breeders search for crop adaptation
  in these gradients arising from (a)biotic
  stresses
• Plant Breeding Paradigm Phenotype Genotype x
  Environment x Crop Management x Policy x
  Institutions x People

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Cost-effective marker-aided breeding

• Selection for a polygenic trait
• Simultaneous selection for many traits
• Selection for traits expressed only in certain
  seasons
• Early detection (perennial crops)
• Detecting presence of recessive alleles
• Profits from year 8 to 16 (versus years 11 to 19
  in conventional breeding for line conversion
  schemes)

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Research-for-development Framework

• Developing a R4D proposal
• Assess demand or opportunity for impact
• Identify constraints/traits
• Propose solutions
• Use interventions/tools
• Find/develop technology
• Deliver outputs to end-users or markets

• Implementing the project
• Purpose (s)
• 2. Objective(s)
• 3. Activity plan
• 4. Results as per milestones
• 5. Outcomes leading to impacts on Science and
  livelihoods

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