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Published on
23.10.25
In an era when the challenges of food security, climate change, and sustainable agriculture continue to define global priorities, stakeholders in the plant science space gathered for an engaging mini-symposium that offered deep insights into how innovation in plant science and research can shape the future of agriculture and food systems in Africa and beyond.
The hybrid mini-symposium themed; “Plant Science and Innovation – Bridging Discovery and Application”, a side event of the Cassava Source Sink (CASS) project meeting, hosted by IITA-CGIAR, brought together students, researchers, and scientists across IITA hubs as well as donors. Seven distinguished speakers through their different presentations offered insight on how technological breakthroughs and innovations have impacted plant science, highlighting key turning points, prospects, and a thorough grasp of plant health regulations.
Uwe Sonnewald, the chair of biochemistry at the University of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), shed light on the genetic mechanisms that underlie heat tolerance in potatoes. It was shown that tolerance genotypes exhibited early tuberization and high expression of SELF-PRUNING 6A (SP6A), a key tuberization genes and heat tolerance is associated with a reduced expression of defense genes like terpene synthase. Given climate change, global food insecurity, understanding the genetic of heat tolerance is essential for sustainable agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.