CONTENTS -- Preface -- Section I Introduction - The Witches' Curse -- Chapter 1 The Striga Scourge in Africa: A Growing Pandemic Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1. The Problem -- 1.2. The Striga Scourge -- 1.3. The Striga-Poverty Parallel -- 2. Distribution and Impact of Striga -- 2.1. Geographic and Species Distribution -- 2.2. Dispersal and Expansion of Infestation -- 2.3. Economic Importance and Impact -- 3. Striga Management Options -- 4. Investments in Striga Control -- 5. The Current State of Knowledge -- 6. The Challenge -- References -- Section II Biology and Chemistry - The Needed Basics -- Chapter 2 Biology of Host-Parasite Interactions in Striga Species Patrick J. Rich and Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Overview of the Striga Life Cycle -- 2. Seed Dormancy and After-Ripening -- 3. Conditioning -- 4. Germination -- 5. Haustorial Initiation -- 6. Attachment -- 7. Establishing Vascular Connections -- 8. Further Haustorial Development -- 9. Metabolic Relationship with Host -- 10. Maturity and Seed Production -- 11. Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 3 Host Detection by Root Parasites: Insights from Transciptome Profiles John I Yoder, Russell Reagan, Alexey Tomilov, Natalya Tomilova and Manuel Torres -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Identification of Haustorium Gene Candidates -- 3. The Parasitic Plant Sequence Database -- 4. Identification of Haustorium Gene Candidates via cDNA Arrays -- 5. Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 4 Germination of Striga and Chemical Signaling Involved: A Target for Control Methods Zhongkui Sun, Radoslava Matusova and Harro Bouwmeester -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Life Cycle and Chemical Signaling Between Striga and its Host -- 3. Germination Stimulants of Striga spp -- 3.1. Origin and Distribution -- 3.2. Detection of Germination Stimulants by Germination Bioassay.

3.3. Perception of Germination Stimulants -- 3.4. Implication for host specifity -- 4. The Strigolactones -- 4.1. Ecological Significance of Strigolactones -- 4.2. Biosynthetic Origin of the Strigolactones -- 5. Control Methods Using Knowledge of Germination Stimulants -- 5.1. Control Through Enhanced Germination -- 5.1.1. Suicidal Germination Using Chemicals -- 5.1.2. Trap and Catch Crops -- 5.2. Control Through Reduced Germination -- 5.2.1. Using Chemicals -- 5.2.2. Dormancy -- 5.2.3. AM Fungi and Phosphate -- 5.3. Control Using Host Specificity -- 5.4. Control Using Breeding -- 6. Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 5 Chemicals Involved in Post-Germination Inhibition of Striga by Desmodium: Opportunities for Utilizing the Associated Allelopathic Traits John A. Pickett, Zeyaur R. Khan, Ahmed Hassanali and Antony M. Hooper -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Immediate Prospects for Breeding -- 3. New Chemical Studies -- 3.1. Germination Stimulants -- 3.2. Inhibitory C-Glycosylated Flavones -- 4. Opportunities Through Biotechnology -- 4.1. Locating the Allelochemical Genes in Model and Crop Legume and Cereal Plants -- 4.2. Isolating the Genes from Desmodium -- 5. Conclusions and Outlook -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 6 Genetic Diversity of Striga and Implications for Control and Modeling Future Distributions Kamal I. Mohamed, Jay F. Bolin, Lytton J. Musselman and A. Townsend Peterson -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Genetic Studies -- 2.1. Striga Asiatica -- 2.2. Striga Gesnerioides -- 2.3. Striga Hermonthica -- 2.4. Synthesis of Genetic Diversity Studies -- 3. Ecological Niche Modeling and Invasive Potential of Striga -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Section III Knowledge-based Breeding - Translating Information to Products.

Chapter 7 Dissecting a Complex Trait to Simpler Components for Effective Breeding of Sorghum with a High Level of Striga Resistance Gebisa Ejeta, Patrick J. Rich and Abdallah Mohamed -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Materials and Methods -- 3. Results and Discussion -- 3.1. Characterization of Mechanisms of Resistance -- 3.1.1. Resistance Based on Low Germination Stimulant (lgs) Production -- 3.1.2. Resistance Based on Low Production of the Haustorial Initiation Factor (LHF) -- 3.1.3. Resistance Based on the Hypersensitive Response (HR) -- 3.1.4. Resistance Based on an Incompatible Response (IR) -- 3.2. Genetic Analyses of Resistance to Striga -- 3.3. Development and Deployment of Striga-Resistant Cultivars -- 3.4. Resistant Cultivars as Components of Integrated Striga Control -- 4. Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 8 Breeding Maize for Broad-Based Resistance to Striga Hermonthica Abebe Menkir, Baffour Badu-Apraku, Chabi G. Yallou, Alpha Y. Kamara and Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Current Breeding Strategies and Progress -- 2.1. Accumulating Resistance Alleles in Broad-Based Populations and Composites -- 2.2. Evaluating Consistency of Resistance to S. hermonthica in Multiple Locations -- 2.3. Developing and Identifying Superior Parental Lines -- 2.4. Assessing Consistency of Genetic Resistance in Multiple Locations -- 3. Distributing S. Hermonthica-Resistant Maize Germplasm -- References -- Chapter 9 Molecular Markers for Analysis of Resistance to Striga Gesnerioides in Cowpea Michael P. Timko, Bhavani S. Gowda, Jeremy Ouedraogo and Boukar Ousmane -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Variation in Host Preference -- 3. Mechanisms of Resistance -- 4. Genetics of Resistance to Parasitic Plants in Cowpea -- 5. Genetic Mapping of Striga Resistance Genes -- 6. Molecular Markers and Marker-Assisted Selection -- 7. Conclusions and Perspective.

Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 10 Introgression of Genes for Striga Resistance Into African Landraces of Sorghum Issoufou Kapran, Cecile Grenier and Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Materials and Methods -- 2.1. Development of Advanced Backcross Populations -- 2.2. Field Trials -- 2.3. Laboratory Assays for Resistance in BC2F3 Lines -- 2.4. Data Analysis -- 3. Results -- 3.1. Analysis of Variance -- 3.2. Heritability -- 3.3. Means Comparison -- 3.4. Characterization of Resistance in BC2F3 Lines -- 4. Discussion -- 5. Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Section IV Biotechnology: Opening New Frontiers -- Chapter 11 Success with the Low Biotech of Seed-Coated Imidazolinone-Resistant Maize Fred Kanampiu, Alpha Diallo, Michael Burnet, Haron Karaya and Jonathan Gressel -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Materials and Methods -- 3. Results and Discussion -- 3.1. First Generation of Released Technology -- 3.2. Limitations of the First Generation Material -- 3.3. Slow Release Formulations - The Second Generation -- 3.4. Raising Striga Control Awareness -- 3.5. The Technology Does Not Always Work -- 4. The Long Term Sustainability of Herbicide Technologies -- 4.1. Evolution of Resistance -- 4.2. The Herbicide Seed Treatment Technology for Other Crops -- 4.3. Integration with Other Technologies -- 5. Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 12 Marker-Assisted Selection for Striga Resistance in Sorghum Cécile Grenier, Yahia Ibrahim, Bettina I. G. Haussmann, Daniel Kiambi and Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Genetic Mapping of Striga -- 2.1. Data from Phenotyping Based on Field Resistance to Striga -- 2.2. Data From Phenotyping for Specific Mechanisms of Striga Resistance Based on Laboratory Assays -- 3. Marker-Assisted Introgression -- 3.1. Marker-Mediated Gene Pyramiding -- 4. Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References.

Chapter 13 The Molecular Genetic Basis of Host Resistance to Striga Species: A Way Forward Julie D. Scholes, Philip J. Swarbrick, Jon Slate and Malcolm C. Press -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Identification of Post Attachment Resistance in Cereals to Striga Species -- 3. Understanding the Molecular Genetic Basis of Host Resistance to Striga: The Use of Genomic Technologies -- 4. Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 14 Effects on Striga Parasitism of Transgenic Maize Armed with RNAi Constructs Targeting Essential S. Asiatica Genes Anic de Framond, Patrick J. Rich, John McMillan and Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Materials and Methods -- 2.1. Striga Genes Chosen as RNAi Targets and Their Source -- 2.2. Vectors and RNAi Design -- 2.3. Transgenic Maize Lines -- 2.4. Laboratory Testing of Maize Transformation Events with Striga asiatica -- 3. Results and Discussion -- 4. Constraints and Integration -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Section V Agronomic Options: The First and Essential Line of Control and Policy Considerations -- Chapter 15 An Integrated Striga Management Option Offers Effective Control of Striga in Ethiopia Tesfaye Tesso, Zenbaba Gutema, Aberra Deressa and Gebisa Ejeta -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Release of Striga Resistant Varieties in Ethiopia -- 3. The Approaches -- 3.1. Packaging of Technology Options -- 3.2. On-farm Testing of the Package -- 4. Farmer-Participatory Evaluation of the ISM Technology -- 4.1. Demonstration -- 4.2. Popularization -- 4.3. Seed Production -- 5. Adoption and Diffusion of the ISM Technology in Ethiopia -- 6. Factors Affecting Further Diffusion of the ISM Technology -- 7. Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Chapter 16 Integrating Crop Management Practices for Striga Control Joel K. Ransom, Abdel Gabar Babiker and George D. Odhiambo -- 1. Introduction.

2. Components of an Integrated Striga Control Program.