African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12480

Table of Content: October 2020; 19(10)

October 2020

Advancing adoption of genetically modified crops as food and feed in Africa: The case of Kenya

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and Genetic Engineering (GE) technology has been around since mid 1990s. Numerous successful applications of genetically modified (GM) crops have been recorded in different parts of the world. The technology has been adopted steadily in several countries with acreage under GM crops steadily increasing in many cases. Socio-economic studies show GMO adoption result in improved...

Author(s): Benard Oloo, Karim Maredia and Ruth Mbabazi

October 2020

Treatment of mangrove and well contaminated water using activated charcoal from coconut shell in Douala, Cameroon

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of activated carbon, based on coconut shell, in the treatment of mangrove and well contaminated water from the BONAPRISO district. More precisely, it consisted of preparing the activated carbon, then characterizing the mangrove water and the well water through a manual of sampling procedure; and finally verifying that the activated carbon produced had a...

Author(s): Paul Fabrice Nguema, Boniface Efon, Zakari Mohamadou Mounir, Madeleine Ondoa Manga and Muller Nandou Tenkeu

October 2020

Genetic progresses from over four decades of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, Poaceaea family] breeding in Ethiopia

Information on genetic progress achieved over time from a breeding program is absolutely essential to develop effective and efficient breeding strategies. Thirty-seven improved lowland sorghum varieties released between 1976 and 2016 and promising advanced lines were evaluated to estimate the genetic progresses made in 40 years of sorghum breeding in Ethiopia. The study was conducted at 2 environments during 2018...

Author(s): Tsegaye Gebremariam Gebregiorg, Taye Tadesse, Amare Seyoum and Hussein Mohamed

October 2020

Diversity assessment of vanilla (Vanilla species) accessions in selected counties of Kenya using simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers

Diversity assessment of vanilla (Vanilla species) in Kenya is a key strategy for germplasm conservation and improvement. Production of vanilla crop in Kenya is limited due to inadequate knowledge on genetic diversity. This study was carried out to characterize 76 vanilla accessions from five counties of Kenya using 14 microsatellite DNA markers. POPGENE version 1.32 was used to compute variety factors. Amplicons ranged...

Author(s): Leah N. Simiyu, Joseph N. Wolukau and Maurice E. Oyoo

October 2020

DNA isolation and optimization of PCR protocol for ISSR analysis of Girardinia diversifolia: A medicinal and economic plant species from Nepal Himalaya

Girardinia diversifolia (Link) Friis is a perennial herb commonly known as Himalayan giant nettle which belongs to the family Urticaceae. The plant has cultural, medicinal and economic importance. The plant contains high concentration of polysaccharides, polyphenols and secondary metabolites which obstructs the process of isolation of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and inhibits downstream Polymerase Chain Reaction...

Author(s): Bijay Raj Subedee, Giri Raj Tripathi and Ram Prasad Chaudhary  

October 2020

Investigation of lipid production and fatty acid composition in some native microalgae from Agadir region in Morocco

Microalgae are a promising alternative source to produce biofuels and bio-products, as they consume carbon dioxide to grow, multiply quickly, and can be cultivated in domestic and industrial wastewater. The efficiency of microalgae-based biodiesel industry depends on the selection of appropriate strains with best lipid content yields and adequate fatty acids composition. The aim of this study was to select a potential...

Author(s): Youssef Mir, Zahra Brakez, Yassine El Alem and Lhoucine Bazzi

October 2020

Symptoms, epidemiology and diagnosis: A mini-review on coronavirus

There is worldwide concern about the rapid spread of the Covid19 (COVID-19) pandemic which now affects almost every country in the world. Generating accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 by testing hundreds of thousands of people per day, and the search for effective therapeutics and vaccines are currently the focus of intense research in large numbers of companies and academic institutions around the world. This review will...

Author(s): Abdulkarim S. BinShaya, Mohamed Bamaga, Awal Zaki, Hajir Alsaihati, Adnan Alwatban, Fahad Aldakheel, Abdulaziz Alanazi, Nahed Alharthi, Amani F. Alanazi, Arwa F. Alanazi and Faris Q. B. Alenzi

October 2020

Comparative study of maggots’ production in brewery wet grains, dung and rumen content of cattle with or without addition of attractant

The objective of this study was to compare maggots’ production in different substrates following an experimental design of six treatments (S1, 1000 g of brewery wet grains - BWG; S2, 900 g of BWG and 100 g of blood; S3, 1000 g of dung; S4, 900 g of dung and 100 g of blood; S5, 1000 g of rumen content; and S6, 900 g of rumen content and 100 g of blood) repeated trice. 121 flies were collected and identified and 5...

Author(s): Gilbert Comlan ZOUGOU TOVIGNON, Abdourhamane Ibrahim TOURE, Cédric SIMA OBIANG, Arsène Valery MBOKO, Férence Ndzani MATUMUINI, Taffarel Juani MEKOSSANGOYE NDOUNGA, Kady Divine MOUSSOUNDA GASSAMA, Frédéric Christol NGANSOP NONO, Joseph-Privat ONDO, Louis Clément OBAME ENGONGA, Franck MOUNIOKO, Fernand TENDONKENG, Emile MIEGOUE, Benoit BOUKILA and Etienne PAMO TEDONKENG

October 2020

Quantification of indole-3-acetic acid from Bambusa tulda Roxb. seedlings using high performance liquid chromatography

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is an important plant growth regulator. As the very first endeavor, the study is aimed at extracting and quantifying IAA from seedlings of Bambusa tulda and evaluating its bioactivity. The extraction of IAA was performed in organic solvent followed by sample evaporation and TLC with a mobile phase composed of chloroform, methanol and formic acid (77:22:1 v/v) in isocratic mode. The extract...

Author(s): Bishnu Maya K. C., Dhurva Prasad Gauchan, Sanjay Nath Khanal and Janardan Lamichhane

October 2020

Improvement of the key flavour compounds of fermented garlic by fermentation process optimization

Flavour compounds in fermented garlic were identified by physicochemical analysis and gas chromatography (GC) after pre-treatment. Reducing sugars, acids, polyphenols and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF) were detected in fermented garlic, and 5-HMF was identified to be the key aroma compounds. To further improve the flavour quality of fermented garlic, the influence of pre-treatment method, fermentation temperature and...

Author(s): Yunwei Leng, Shuangshuang Huang and Bing Chen