African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (12), pp. 563-569, December 2003

ISSN 1684-5315  © 2003 Academic Journals

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Enhancing banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) resistance by plant genetic modification: A perspective

Andrew Kiggundu^1,2*, Michael Pillay⁴, Altus Viljoen³, Clifford Gold⁴, Wilberforce Tushemereirwe¹, Karl Kunert²

  ¹National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) P. O. Box 7065 Kampala, Uganda.

²Department of Botany, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, 74 Lunnon Road, Hillcrest, Pretoria South Africa.

³Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, 74 Lunnon Road, Hillcrest, Pretoria South Africa.

⁴International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), East and Southern Africa Regional Centre (ESARC), P. O. Box 7878, Kampala, Uganda.

*Corresponding author. Email: andrew.kiggundu@fabi.up.ac.za. Fax: +27-12-4203960.

Accepted 21 November 2003

Banana weevil is a serious pest of bananas and plantains in Africa. The development of resistant cultivars is seen as the long term and more sustainable control strategy. The difficulty in conventional breeding of bananas and plantains has prompted efforts towards the use of genetic transformation for banana and plantain improvement. In this review, the current status of banana weevil resistance, sources of resistance and resistance mechanisms is assessed. Further, current efforts and future prospects for identifying resistance genes outside the genus Musa with potential to control banana weevil in a transgenic approach are outlined and discussed.