Marian Dorcas Quain

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) Chief Research Scientist at CSIR College of Science and Technology Ghana

The continuous battle of yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) with pests and diseases as well as other environmental factors has made the crop expensive to produce. Tissue culture (in vitro) offers a substitute for propagating the crop, although more farmers prefer landraces of yam, which perform poorly in tissue culture. To establish an efficient and ge...

Commercial production of plantain (Musa spp) is challenging due to insufficient planting materials as vegetative propagation using the same planting materials year after year causes cultivar decline due to pathogen load. Although different types of plantain suckers (maiden, sword and peeper) are available as sources of ex-plant for in vitro propaga...

The success of Positive Selection Technique (PST) depends on the visual selection of virus-free plants, which may not always be possible due to virus accumulation in plant parts apart from the leaves. This study determined virus accumulations in different plant parts of white yam when practicing PST. Experimental plots were established at Ejura and...

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) productivity is constrained significantly by the lack of a formal seed system. Vegetative propagation, through tuber setts as ‘seed’ yams, encourages the recycling of virus-infected planting materials, contributing to high virus incidence and yield losses. Efforts are ongoing to increase the production of high-quality seed yams...

A lot of research initiatives have gone into the breeding of cassava which has led to the development and release of over 30 cassava varieties in Ghana, of which adoption rate is 40%. This low adoption is due to inadequate promotion of improved varieties and the fact that some of the varieties do not meet end-user needs. With cassava becoming an im...

Genome editing offers a range of solutions for more efficient development of crops that are productive, adapted to stresses, climate-resilient, and less dependent on agro-inputs. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated protein (Cas9) technology is the current dominant tool used for genome editing. Origin...

Plant cryopreservation is useful for long term storage of clonal germplasm and endangered species. Clonally propagated crops which produce recalcitrant seeds cannot be easily conserved using conventional methods. Preservation of plants in vitro is limited to two years and not ideal for germplasm storage for a very long time. The need to conserve pl...

Field tagging and selection of apparently virus - free yam plants to be used as source of seed by farmers

Positive selection technique (PST) involves physical examination of plants at vegetative stage for viral disease symptoms and using tubers from apparently symptomless plants as planting materials in seed yam production. This study determined PST use among farmers in Atebubu-Amantin and Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipalities of Ghana. Viral diseases were...

Positive selection technique (PST) involves physical examination of plants at vegetative stage for viral disease symptoms and using tubers from apparently symptomless plants as planting materials in seed yam production. This study determined PST use among farmers in Atebubu-Amantin and Ejura- Sekyedumase Municipalities of Ghana. Viral diseases we...

Rhizobacteria have huge potential for biocontrol activity against many plant pathogens. Isolation and identification are therefore crucial to understand their microbial diversity and ecological importance. The study sought to identify eight yam (Dioscorea sp.) rhizobacterial isolates found to be inhibitory in a previous study to several fungal path...

This study was conducted to determine how seed yam selected from three sources namely: Positive Selection (PS), farmer practice and diseased can influence viral incidence and yields of three white yam varieties namely; “Pona”, “Laribako” and “Dente” in Ghana. Seed yams previously selected in 2015 from symptomless or mildly infected plants (PS), pur...

The supply of seed yams for intensive yam production is hindered by many constraints, including diseases and pest infestations as well as the unavailability of quality planting material. The combination of tissue culture and aeroponics system is perceived to be the way towards clean and adequate supply of seed yam for enhanced yam production. Howev...

Palm agriculture has received strong criticism in recent years due to its link with deforestation, especially in Asia. Here we propose that there is instead an opportunity for sustainable palm futures in Africa. Applying interdisciplinary systems thinking and circular production models, food and economic security can be achieved sustainably by (i)...

A major constraint to yam production in Ghana has been lack of quality seed. Tissue culture and aeroponics seedlings were explored for the rapid production of disease-free and high quality seed yam in large quantities. This preliminary study was conducted in a forest agro ecological zone in Ghana to assess the field performance of the growth and yi...

To date, several viruses of different genera have been reported to infect yam (Dioscorea spp.). The full diversity of viruses infecting yam, however, remains to be explored. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods are increasingly being used in the discovery of new plant viral genomes. In this study, we employed HTS on yam to determine whether any...

Micronutrient deficiency is the cause of multiple diseases in developing countries. Staple crop biofortification is an efficient means to combat such deficiencies in the diets of local consumers. Biofortified lines of sweet potato (Ipomoea batata L. Lam) with enhanced beta-carotene content have been developed in Ghana to alleviate Vitamin A Deficie...

Experimental layout. Micropropagated (shown in orange border) and field-maintained plants (black bordered) planted in a common garden in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. Each block consisted of three plots: Bo (Bohye), Og (Ogyefo), and Ot (Otoo). Two Ridges (4.5 m long), spaced at 1 m, were made on each plot and fourteen vi...

PCoA results of the 12 primer combinations used for MSAP pilot studies. (DOCX)

Analysis of molecular somaclonal variation induced by micropropagation of sweet potato. A) PCoA generated using GenAlex v6.5 from MSAP profiles from micropropagated (empty symbols) and field-maintained (full symbols) plants from genotypes of Bohye (green), Ogyefo (red), and Otoo (blue) (n = 24). MSAP profiles were amplified from genomic DNA restric...

Analysis of epigenetic and genetic variability induced by micropropagation in three sweet potato genotypes. PCA generated by msapR 3.3.1 from MSAP profiles from micropropagated (blue symbols) and field-maintained (red symbols) plants from genotypes of Bohye (a and d), Ogyefo (b and e), and Otoo (c and f) (n = 24). MSAP profiles were amplified from...

Scale of reference (1–9) and definition of scores for virus incidence, foliar and root morphological descriptors. (DOCX)

Identity, origin, year of release, and preferred ecology of sweet potato genotypes used in the study. (DOCX)

Oligonucleotides used during Methylation Sensitive Amplified Polymorphisms protocol with their sequences and function. Primer selective bases are highlighted in bold. (DOCX)

Results of selective primer combinations for MSAP pilot study. Primers selected are indicated with an asterisk. The number of alleles (# of loci), percentage reproducibility of alleles (% Rep), and number of differential alleles (# diff. alleles) are displayed. (DOCX)

Mean foliage and root quality phenotypic scores for micropropagated (M) and field-maintained (F) populations of three sweet potato genotypes Bohye, Ogyefo, and Otoo. ILC = Immature Leaf Colour, MLC = Mature Leaf Colour, ALVP = Abaxial Leaf Vein Pigmentation, PVC = Predominant Vine Colour, SVC = Secondary Vine Colour, PP = Petiole Pigmentation, PT =...

Micronutrient deficiency is the cause of multiple diseases in developing countries. Staple crop biofortification is an efficient means to combat such deficiencies in the diets of local consumers. Biofortified lines of sweet potato (Ipomoea batata L. Lam) with enhanced beta-carotene content have been developed in Ghana to alleviate Vitamin A Deficie...

Public institutions in Kenya and Ghana are using real-time data collection methods to determine the exact costs of producing Early Generation Seed (EGS). This approach is informing pricing strategies to ensure sustainable production of EGS.

In developing countries, including Ghana, a greater proportion of the population depends on small-scale farming for their income and livelihood. Crops are frequently affected by a wide array of virus diseases showing varying degrees and kinds of symptoms including leaf curling and distortion, green or yellow foliar mosaic, stunting of plants, and r...

Yam is traditionally propagated vegetatively by means of the edible tuber. This practice is associated with low multiplication rate (less than 1:10), long dormant phase of the tuber prior to sprouting and planting materials that are infested with pathogens. The aeroponic production of seed yam in Ghana is seen as the way forward to solving planting...

Water is an increasingly scarce resource that limits crop productivity in many parts of the world, and the frequency and severity of drought are predicted to increase as a result of climate change. Improving tolerance to drought stress is therefore important for maximizing future crop yields. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of drou...

Cysteine proteases and cystatins have many functions that remain poorly characterised, particularly in crop plants. We therefore investigated the responses of these proteins to nitrogen deficiency in wild-type soybeans and in two independent transgenic soybean lines (OCI-1 and OCI-2) that express the rice cystatin, oryzacystatin-I (OCI). Plants wer...

Ectopic cystatin expression has long been used in plant pest management, but the cysteine protease, targets of these inhibitors, might also have important functions in the control of plant lifespan and stress tolerance that remain poorly characterized. We therefore characterized the effects of expression of the rice cystatin, oryzacystatin-I (OCI),...

Almost all protease families have been associated with plant development, particularly senescence, which is the final developmental stage of every organ before cell death. Proteolysis remobilizes and recycles nitrogen from senescent organs that is required, for example, seed development. Senescence-associated expression of proteases has recently be...

Four years on station and on Farm evaluation of eight elite clones of Cocoyam were carried out at four notable Cocoyam growing areas in the Forest Agro ecological zones of Ghana during the 2008/2009-2011/2012 growing seasons. This evaluation was conducted to identify clones which are high yielding and tolerant to major cocoyam diseases to be releas...

Experiments were conducted to assess the genetic and morphological diversity among 36 soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] accessions from three different countries, namely: Ghana, Nigeria and Brazil using SSR markers and morphological traits. For genetic diversity studies, 20 mapped soybean SSR markers were amplified via PCR and then run on agarose...

Sweetpotato is playing an increasingly important role in African agriculture, combating food insecurity and undernourishment, particularly vitamin A deficiency. The Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) aims to reposition sweetpotato in African food economies, and improve the lives of 10 million families by 2019. The SPHI works throug...

Eleven (11) released and two local Ghanaian cassava cultivars were fingerprinted to estimate the genetic diversity among them using 35 SSR markers. Genomic DNA of thirteen cassava cultivars (UCC, IFAD, Agelifiaa, Nyerikobga, Nkabom, Essam Bankye, Akosua Tumtum, Debor, Filindiakong, Afisiafi, Doku Duade, Bankye Hemaa and Bankye Botan) were isolated...

Ghana, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa, has agriculture as a major contributor to the economy. The system of agriculture is, however, subsistence and needs to be developed as the nation strives to attain a middle income status. For agriculture to develop for enhanced economic growth, biotechnology has been identified as one of the techno...

A study was conducted to determine the optimum methods for conditioning explants to be used in the development of a simple protocol for long-term conservation of the germplasm of Dioscorea rotundata via cryopreservation. Shoot tips from cultures maintained in vitro were exposed to high concentrations of sucrose prior to silica gel-based dehydration...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) constitute an essential family of pattern recognition molecules that, through the direct recognition of conserved microbial components, initiate inflammatory responses after infection. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that vertebrate TLRs are under strong purifying selection for the maintenance of function. Our lab is focus...

The agronomic evaluation of some IITA hybrids (BITA-3, PITA-1, PITA-4, and BITA-2) was conducted alongside some local land races and FHIA-21 at two locations in the semi-deciduous forest region of Ghana. Some farmers also evaluated the hybrids for their agronomic performance and the sensory qualities. A survey was conducted to sample the views of f...