Plant & Animal Genomes XVI Conference

January 12-16, 2008
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Genome Analysis, Systematics And Genetic Diversity In Witchweed (Striga spp.)

Jeff Bennetzen¹ , Matt Estep¹ , Srinivasa Chaluvadi¹ , Michael Timko² , Lytton Musselman³ , Claude dePamphilis⁴

¹  Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA

²  Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 USA

³  Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529 USA

⁴  Department of Biology, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA

Parasitic weeds of the genus Striga are a major limitation to food production in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Host resistance has been identified in some plants, but durable genetic resistance has not been attained in any parasitized crop. Most of the agronomically significant witchweeds are parasites of cereals, with the exception of a parasite of legumes and solanaceous crops, S. gesnerioides. We are using DNA sequence analysis to determine the degrees of relatedness among different Striga species, the genetic diversity within individual species and collected populations, and the relationship between these traits and host preferences. In addition, these studies provide insights into the structure and evolution of Striga genomes.