First International Meeting on Cassava Breeding, Biotechnology and Ecology

"Cassava Improvement to Enhance Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa and Northeastern Brazil"

Cassava wild relatives are perennial and vary in growth pattern from nearly acaulescent subshrubs to small trees. They have been used as a source of useful characters such as high protein content, apomixis, resistance to mealybug and mosaic disease and tolerance to drought. Indigenous clones are potential source of b-carotene and lycopene.

Apomixis genes have been transferred successfully through interspecific hybridization to the crop, and apomictic clones arising from these hybrids are being now grown at the Universidade de Brasilia. Interspecific hybrids produced early have been polyploidized and have their fertility restored. Different useful types of chimera were also produced.

Publicado por Thesaurus Editora, 2a edição, 2007, 198 páginas.