Plant Genetics and Development

Research in my group focuses on increasing the productivity of crops in order to contribute towards alleviating the problem of food security. At the present time, we focus on tef (Eragrostis tef), economically important but under-researched cereal crop widely cultivated in the Horn of Africa. Tef is particularly important because it adapts to diverse climatic and soil conditions and also tolerates many pests and diseases. In addition to its agronomic and nutritional benefits, the seeds of tef are free of gluten, a substance present in wheat and other cereals for which high number of people are allergic. We implement both genetics and genomics tools in order to develop cultivars with increased tolerance to lodging and scarce soil moisture. In order to achieve these goals, we apply high-throughput techniques such as TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) and MutMap. Information from our tef genome sequencing supports the TILLING and marker-assisted breeding particularly the SSR (Single Nucleotide Repeat) method. Several candidate tef lines tolerant to lodging and drought are introgressed to locally adapted cultivars and being tested in the field in Ethiopia.

• Breeding for lodging tolerance
• Breeding for drought tolerance
• Tef genome & transcriptome sequencing

► Google Scholar:https://scholar.google.ch/citations?hl=de&user=Z7-VNa0AAAAJ

• Genetic diversity of Ethiopian potato (Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew) genotypes using simple sequence repeat markers
  M Fanta, F Mekbib, A Wakjira, Z Tadele
  Journal of crop improvement 37 (2), 183-208, 2023
• Evaluation of selected semi-dwarf Tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) genotypes for yield and yield related traits
  Y Genet, H Jifar, S Chanyalew, K Assefa, S Mitiku, C Nigus, Z Tadele
  Journal of Scientific Agriculture 7, 06-12, 2023
• Orphan Crops: Their Role in Food and Nutrition Security
  Z Tadele
  Elsevier 2023
• In-vitro evaluation of mung bean (Vigna radiata L., Wilczek) genotypes for drought tolerance and productivity
  TY Ganta, F Mekbib, B Amsalu, Z Tadele
  Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences 7 (2), 49-58, 2022
• Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter]
  G Cannarozzi, Z Tadele
  Underutilised Crop Genomes, 27-39, 2022
• Principles and Practices of Tef Improvement
  K Assefa, S Chanyalew, D Girma, Z Tadele
  Agricultural Transformation Institute, 2022
• The Genetic Diversity of Enset (Ensete ventricosum) Landraces Used in Traditional Medicine Is Similar to the Diversity Found in Non-medicinal Landraces
  Nuraga, Gizachew Woldesenbet; Feyissa, Tileye; Tesfaye, Kassahun; Biswas, Manosh Kumar; Schwarzacher, Trude; et al.
  Frontiers In Plant Science, DOI10.3389/fpls.2021.756182  JAN 6 2022
• From Traditional Breeding to Genome Editing for Boosting Productivity of the Ancient Grain Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter]
  Numan, Muhammad; Khan, Abdul Latif; Asaf, Sajjad; Salehin, Mohammad; Beyene, Getu; et al.
  Plants-Basel, DOI10.3390/plants10040628  APR 2021
• Genetic characterization of the orphan crop tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] accessions using simple sequence repeat markers
  Asmare, Fasil; Abebe, Tiegist Dejene; Gebrehawaryat, Yosef; Tadele, Zerihun
  Genetic Resources And Crop Evolution, 10.1007/s10722-021-01126-3   Early Access: FEB 2021
• Panicle Angle is an Important Factor in Tef Lodging Tolerance
  Bloesch, Regula; Plaza-Wuethrich, Sonia; de Reuille, Pierre Barbier; Weichert, Annett; Routier-Kierzkowska, Anne-Lise; et al.
  Frontiers In Plant Science 11 Article Number: 61 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00061   FEB 13 2020
• Phenotypic diversity of enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) landraces used in traditional medicine
  Nuraga, Gizachew Woldesenbet; Feyissa, Tileye; Tesfaye, Kassahun; Demissew, Sebsebe; Tadele, Zerihun
  Genetic Resources And Crop Evolution,  DOI: 10.1007/s10722-019-00832-3  2020
• Promoting orphan crops research and development
  Tadele, Z; Bartels, D
  PLANTA, 250 (3):675-676; SI 10.1007/s00425-019-03235-x SEP 2019
• Orphan crops: their importance and the urgency of improvement
  Tadele, Z
  PLANTA, 250 (3):677-694; SI 10.1007/s00425-019-03210-6 SEP 2019
• Significance and prospects of an orphan crop tef
  Chanyalew, S; Ferede, S; Damte, T; Fikre, T; Genet, Y; Kebede, W; Tolossa, K; Tadele, Z; Assefa, K
  PLANTA, 250 (3):753-767; SI 10.1007/s00425-019-03209-z SEP 2019
• Genotyping by Sequencing Reasserts the Close Relationship between Tef and Its Putative Wild Eragrostis Progenitors
  Girma, D; Cannarozzi, G; Weichert, A; Tadele, Z
  DIVERSITY-BASEL, 10 (2):10.3390/d10020017 JUN 2018
• Genetic diversity in the Ethiopian garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) using microsatellite markers.
  Tadesse, Legesse; Mekbib, Firew; Wakjira, Adugna; Tadele, Zerihun (2018).
  Current Plant Biology, 16, pp. 32-40. Elsevier https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2018.11.007
• Correlation and path coefficient analysis of yield and quality components of garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) genotypes in Ethiopia.
  Tadesse, Legesse; Mekbib, Firew; Wakjira, Adugna; Tadele, Zerihun (2018).
  Journal of plant breeding and crop science, 10(10), pp. 290-297. Academic Journals 10.5897/JPBCS2018.0757
• Genetic diversity of seed storage protein in the Ethiopian garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.).
  Tadesse, Legesse; Mekbib, Firew; Wakjira, Adugna; Tadele, Zerihun (2018).
  African Journal of Biotechnology, 17(37), pp. 1152-1161. Academic Journals 10.5897/AJB2018.16587
• Identification of miRNAs linked with the drought response of tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter]
  Martinelli, F; Cannarozzi, G; Balan, B; Siegrist, F; Weichert, A; Blosch, R; Tadele, Z
  J of Plant Physiology, 224 163-172; 10.1016/j.jplph.2018.02.011 MAY-JUN 2018
• …

• Breeding crops for challenging environment
• Understanding mechanism of lodging & drought tolerance
• Modern crop improvement techniques
• Genome and transcriptome assembly, analysis and annotation
• Networking of orphan crops research
• Private-public partnership in technology development and transfer