TABLE 2.
Highlights of genetic engineering projects in various African countries.
| Countries | Transgenic name | Gene/sequence introduced | Source | Gene product | Molecular function | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria | VICRA Plus project | near full-length coat protein (CP) genes | cloned from CBSV and UCBSV | N/A | RNAi | Taylor et al. (2012) |
| NPTII | Escherichia coli | neomycin phosphotransferase II enzyme | allows transformed plants to metabolize neomycin and kanamycin antibiotics during selection | Taylor et al. (2012) | ||
| IRT1 and FER1 | A.thaliana | Iron transporter and Ferritin | Significantly increase the accumulation iron and zinc levels | Narayanan et al. (2019) | ||
| Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria | TELA Maize Project | cry2Ab2 | Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kumamotoensis | Cry2Ab delta-endotoxin | Confers resistance to lepidopteran insects | ISAAA, 2023b |
| cry1A.105 | Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kumamotoensis | Cry1A.105 protein which comprises the Cry1Ab, Cry1F and Cry1Ac proteins | Confers resistance to lepidopteran insects | ISAAA, 2023b | ||
| cspB | Bacillus subtilis | cold shock protein B | Maintains normal cellular functions under water stress conditions by preserving RNA stability and translation | ISAAA, 2023a | ||
| nptII |
Escherichia coli strain K12 Tn5 transposon |
neomycin phosphotransferase II enzyme | Allows transformed plants to metabolize neomycin and kanamycin antibiotics during selection | ISAAA, 2023a | ||
| Pod Borer-Resistant (PBR) Cowpeas | Cry1Ab | Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki | Cry2Ab delta-endotoxin | Confers resistance to lepidopteran insects | AATF (2022) | |
| nptII | Escherichia coli | neomycin phosphotransferase II enzyme | allows transformed plants to metabolize neomycin and kanamycin antibiotics during selection | AATF (2022) | ||
| Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana | NEWEST Rice | HvAlaAT | Hordeum vulgare | alanine aminotransferase | Confers nitrogen efficiency on rice | Arcadia Biosciences (2018) |
| Nigeria, Kenya, Burkina faso South Africa, Egypt | Africa Biofortified Sorghum project | Hv-HGGT | Hordeum vulgare | homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase | Increase Vitamin E | AHBFI (2023) |
| At-DXS | Arabidopsis thaliana | 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase | Increase carotenoids | AHBFI (2023) | ||
| Zm-PSY1 | Zea mays | Maize phytoene synthase 1 | Increase carotenoids | AHBFI (2023) | ||
| CRT I | Bacterial (Erwinia) | Increase Vitamin A biosynthesis | AHBFI (2023) | |||
| PMI | Escherichia coli | phosphomannose isomerase | A selection gene instead of antibiotic markers | AHBFI (2023) |