Fonio Plant

Plant Science at DSU

The Plant Science sector of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources within the College of Agriculture and Related Sciences (CARS) at DSU is focused on teaching, research and outreach in addressing the needs of its students, the people of Delaware and the larger reach to the population of the United States with its global affiliations. Because plants are so integral to all life, the need to be au currant with species of plants, their biology, their cultivation, nutritional value and use, the scope of our work with plants is extensive. Scientific studies consequently range from comparative anatomy and physiology through genetics and plant breeding, molecular biology and biotechnology, to enzymology and biochemical and biophysical characterization of important molecules in plant metabolism.

Our Focus on Fonio

Fonio is one of many important plants that have caught our eye and stimulated work here. The National Academy of Sciences, with numerous other reviews, has identified fonio as a valuable crop that is gluten free, of low glycemic index, and which provides a high quality of essential amino acids in its grain. As a food, it is tasty, and it rectifies deficiencies in grains and other foods that form diets of diabetics and many other medically and nutritionally challenged individuals and patients. Additionally, there exists a tremendous opportunity to improve the crop for local farmers to produce this low-input and high quality grain for the broad array of consumers around the Country and abroad.

Photosynthesis is the basic process by which plants uptake carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and they essentially produce organic molecules or compounds that serve as food and other important products from plants. Three mechanisms of photosynthesis exist, the C3, C4 and CAM pathways of photosynthesis, and the environmental stations of plants relate to their adaptation of one mechanism over the other. Most economic plant species use either the C3 or C4 mechanism; however, evidence suggests that the C4 mechanism is the more recently evolved and more efficient. Higher net photosynthesis is the effect of the C4 mechanism, and corn, sorghum, and sugar cane are examples of  plants that utilize this mechanism. Fonio is another species that is a C4 plant, but per acre yields from fonio plantings are low. We are interested in determining how we can improve yields and best use the advantages of this species in providing for our population of consumers.

Our focus on fonio involves:

• Work to understand genetic and physiological traits of fonio, plant genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and physiology
• Training both undergraduate and graduate students during the investigation of this crop that produces nutritionally rich and potentially very profitable new crop.
• Work for its adoption by local farmers to increase income make a lasting impact that would ultimately boost nutritional quality, food security, and global food supply.