Marama bean crop improvement using tissue culture and mutation breeding approaches.
Namibia University of Science and Technology
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Marama Bean. Photo credit: Dr Percy Chimwamurombe
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Background
​Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum) is a wild perennial edible legume that grows in the Namibian desert. It is often referred to as “green gold” due to the high protein content found in its seeds, estimated to be between 29% and 39%, surpassing the protein content of soybeans and chickpeas (approximately 23%). Marama bean exhibits remarkable resilience, tolerating summer temperatures as high as 50ËšC and freezing winter temperatures as well as surface water availability for only eight weeks annually.
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The aim of this research project is to accelerate the improvement of Marama bean beyond traditional breeding methods. The project will use mutation breeding on several varieties of Marama bean from the seed bank at NUST. In addition, the project will use tissue culture techniques to shorten the juvenile period of Marama bean.
Objectives
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1. Reduce the juvenile phase (time-to-seed) using tissue culture and hormone treatments on adventitious roots from immature marama explants and test if this will reduce the juvenile stages.
2. Apply mutagenesis breeding to produce stable and desirable traits.
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Dr Percy Chimwamurombe, with a Marama bean Tuba.
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Stages of Marama bean growth, Photo credit: Dr Percy Chimwamurombe.
PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS
Dr Percy Chimwamurombe
PI
NUST, Namibia