Molecular Improvement of Tropical Maize for Drought Stress Tolerance in Sub-Saharan Africa

The C4 grass Zea mays (maize or corn) is the third most important food crop globally after wheat and rice in terms of production and the second most widespread genetically modified (GM) crop, after soybean. Its demand is predicted to increase by 45% by the year 2020. In sub-Saharan Africa, tropical maize has traditionally been the main staple of the diet, 95% of the maize grown is consumed directly as human food and as an important source of income for the resource-poor rural population. However, its growth, development and production are greatly affected by environmental stresses such as drought and salinization. In this respect, food security in tropical sub-Saharan Africa is increasingly dependent on continuous improvement of tropical maize through conventional breeding involving improved germplasm, greater input of fertilizers, irrigation, and production of two or more crops per year on the same piece of land. Integration of advances in biotechnology, genomic research, and molecular marker applications with conventional plant breeding practices opens tremendous avenues for genetic modifications and fundamental research in tropical maize. The ability to transfer genes into this agronomically important crop might enable improvement of the species with respect to enhanced characteristics, such as enriched nutritional quality, high yield, resistance to herbicides, diseases, viruses, and insects, and tolerance to drought, salt, and flooding. These improvements in tropical maize will ultimately enhance global food production and human health. Molecular approaches to modulate drought stress tolerance are discussed for sub-Saharan Africa, but widely applicable to other tropical genotypes in Central and Latin America. This review highlights abiotic constraints that affect growth, development and production of tropical maize and subsequently focuses on the mechanisms that regulate drought stress tolerance in maize. Biotechnological approaches to manage abiotic stress tolerance in maize will be discussed. The current status of tropical maize transformation using Agrobacterium as a vehicle for DNA transfer is emphasized. This review also addresses the present status of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) regulation in sub-Saharan Africa.