Propagating Tissue Culture

"Many of the students who come to our programs could more accurately be described as colleagues. The people who come to MASHAV courses at the Blaustein Institute have at least a Bachelors degree, but many have their Masters and even PhDs. There have been cases where trainees have come for particular courses, and then these MASHAV relationships turn into long-term partnerships," says Elliott Birnbaum.

This is precisely the relationship that developed between Birnbaum and Professor Ifediorama Eugene Nwana of Nigeria. The MASHAV course brought Elliot Birnbaum together with this student/colleague who also became a research partner. It was the start of a relationship of enormous interest to both Israel and Nigeria, and one that would eventually lead Birnbaum to Nigeria for a brief, but intensive one-week visit in February and a later two-week follow-up visit in May 1997 in order to evaluate various Nigerian research and biotechnology facilities.

Eugene Nwana, an entomologist ("a bug specialist") and currently Deputy Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, first came to Israel for an International Course on Biological and Physical Aspects of Crop Production in Arid Zones at the end of 1991, even before Nigeria and Israel established formal diplomatic relations in 1992, and then was granted a MASHAV "individual traineeship" for a year.

"After we had been working together here in Israel, we decided to apply for a research grant to the Agency for International Development (A.I.D.), a United States government agency which funds research and development programs. It has a framework specifically to support collaborative research between Israel and developing countries," explains Birnbaum. "We wrote a proposal for research and development of the yam, a tropical root crop, similar to the potato, basic in its importance to Nigeria (and many African and Asian countries). However, in recent years Nigeria, due to rapid population growth, has not been able to produce enough for its own domestic consumption. Our proposal was accepted by A.I.D., and we started working on the project two years ago," he says.

Birnbaum was accompanied by Professor Herman Lips, a specialist in plant physiology and a partner in the research project, also of Ben-Gurion University, and the two visiting Israeli scientists gave a number of guest lectures during their stay, squeezed into an already hectic schedule of work on the A.I.D. project.

"Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria Gadi Golan and I had met before. Gadi, who has served in other African countries as well, and I both felt that it was very important that he be involved in our visit. Israeli ambassadors in developing countries are always active in promoting MASHAV courses and are very supportive in recruiting participants. Professor Lips and I spoke on plant improvement through tissue culture and responses of plants to stress at the University of Lagos and the National Institute for Genetic Resources, located in the city of Ibadan, to large audiences made up of scientists and researchers from many fields who expressed interest in pursuing scientific collaboration opportunities with Israeli scientists. We also gave lectures at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, as that is where the joint project is centred," adds Birnbaum.

Trials have been conducted at Ben-Gurion University with the general objective of improving known approaches to micropropagation (propagating yams in a laboratory). Plantlets produced in vitro (in a test tube) have been acclimatized in conventional potting mix and grown in a greenhouse, producing large storage roots at a relatively fast rate. A hydroponics system (growing plants in a soilless culture in nutrient solution) has been tested for acclimatization and for vine growth. Minitubers have been produced on plants in hydroponics. Initial trials of nutrient solution composition indicate that nitrate metabolism plays a crucial role in vine growth and minituber formation. Part of the joint project is building a tissue culture laboratory at Nnamdi Azikiwe University where the research will continue in clonal propogation to improve crop yield. A collection of Nigerian yam cultivars will be established in the field at NAU, representing conventional cultivars and select material obtained from the National Root Crops Research Institute in Umadike.

Eugene Nwana was the moving force behind the establishment of the lab, having based its development on what he learned in Israel. It was built principally from funds from the joint project. The lab, which Birnbaum describes as "modest, but functional," was inaugurated during the Israeli scientists' visit, and got excellent coverage in the local press. Eugene Nwana has obtained permission for it be named "The Yitzhak Rabin Tissue Culture Lab" in memory of the late Israeli prime minister.

The visit, although mostly "business" in nature, also had its more personal moments. Birnbaum and Lips were invited to the Nwana's home, where they had the opportunity of meeting his wife, children and grandchildren. "One particularly memorable experience was when Professor Nwana took us to meet a chief of the Ibo tribe."

"Our project will continue for one or two more years, and I hope that the outcome will be application of improved technology for propagation of yams in Nigeria," he states. Birnbaum returned to Nigeria for a two-week stay in May 1997, on behalf of MASHAV and UNESCO. He visited approximately 15 institutions during the visit in order to evaluate Nigerian biotechnology programs and research facilities.

In addition to the joint project in Nigeria, Elliot Birnbaum is also involved in another A.I.D.-sponsored research project in Turkmenistan involving the haloxylon plant, a shrub that grows in Central Asia, Turkmenistan and Mongolia. It stabilizes sand dunes and provides both firewood and fodder for cattle in the largely agrarian economies. The aim of the project is to equip scientists with the ability to develop ways of propagating the best individuals of the species as a key source of fodder.

"Most of the economy is based on animal husbandry, mainly the raising of sheep, cattle and camels. Therefore, fodder is an extremely important issue. In Turkmenistan, there is a flush of vegetation in the wet months, and then it's gone. What we need to find are shrubs and bushes for the dry period. Fortunately, the haloxylon plant has a lot of genetic variability from among which selection can be made," explains Birnbaum.

Currently, there are four MASHAV graduates working in the Turkmenistan laboratory, and plans also include building a tissue culture facility on-site. And, in perhaps one of the more promising signs of the gradual normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbours, a Jordanian trainee participated in a MASHAV course from November 1996 to January 1997 on Desert Agrobiology, which led him and Birnbaum to develop another collaborative research proposal. Hopefully, MASHAV-inspired contacts of this kind between Israeli scientists and their Arab colleagues and regional cooperation will continue to develop and flourish as do contacts all over the world.