Gebisa Ejeta

Gebisa Ejeta (born 1950[1]) is an Ethiopian American plant breeder, geneticist and Professor at Purdue University.[2] In 2009, he won the World Food Prize for his major contributions in the production of sorghum.

Gebisa Ejeta
Gebisa Ejeta at the ISPC Science Forum 2016. Photo by Desalegne Tadesse.
Born1950 (age 70–71)
Wollonkomi, Ethiopia
Alma materPurdue University
AwardsWorld Food Prize (2009)
Scientific career
FieldsPlant breeding, Genetics

Early years

Ejeta was born in the remote village Wollonkomi, Oromia to Oromo parents.[3] Encouraged by his mother, he walked 20 kilometres to the nearest elementary school every Sunday evening and spend the week there.

During primary school, Ejeta planned to study engineering when he reached college age. However, his mother convinced him he could do more working in agriculture. With assistance from the Oklahoma State University, he attended an agricultural and technical secondary school in Ethiopia, and also studied at what is now Haramaya University. The university and the U.S. Agency for International Development helped him earn a doctorate from Purdue University.

Working in Sudan during the early 1980s, Ejeta developed Africa's first commercial hybrid variety of sorghum tolerant to drought. Later, with a Purdue University colleague in Indiana, he discovered the chemical basis of the relationship between the deadly parasitic weed striga and sorghum, and was able to produce sorghum varieties resistant to both drought and striga.

On 2011 President Barack Obama appointed Gebisa Ejeta as Member, Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.[4]

Publications

Saballos, A., G. Ejeta, E. Sanchez, C. Kang, and W. Vermerris. 2009. A genome-wide analysis of the cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase family in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) identifies SbCAD2 as the brown midrib6 gene. Genetics 181:783-795.

Vogler, R., T. Tesso, K. Johnson, and G. Ejeta. 2009. Effect of allelic variation on forage quality of brown midrib sorghum mutants. African J. of Biochem. 3(3):70-76.

Peters, P., M. Jenks, P. Rich, J, Axtell, and G. Ejeta. 2009. Mutagenesis, selection, and allelic analysis of epicuticular wax mutants in sorghum. Crop Sci. 49:1249-1258.

Saballos, A., W. Vermerris, L. Rivera, and G. Ejeta. 2009. Allelic association, chemical characterization and saccharification properties of brown midrib mutants of sorghum (S. bicolor (L.) Moench). Bioenerg. Res. 1:193-204.

Rich, P. J. and G. Ejeta. 2008. Towards effective resistance to Striga in African maize. Plant Signaling & Behavior 3:9, 618-621.

Amusan, I. O., P. J. Rich, A. Menkir, T. Housley, and G. Ejeta. 2008. Resistance to Striga hermonthica in a maize inbred line derived from Zea diploperennis. New Phytologist 178:157-166.

Knoll, J. E. and G. Ejeta. 2008. Marker-assisted selection for early season cold tolerance in sorghum: QTL validation across populations and environments. Theor. Appl. Genet.116:541-553.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Government.

  1. "2009 Laureate Gebisa Ejeta". Archived from the original on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  2. "Gebisa Ejeta". Archived from the original on 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  3. "One of Our Own: Laureate Gebisa Ejeta". opride.com.
  4. "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". White House. April 21, 2011.
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Dole and McGovern		 World Food Prize
2009		 Succeeded by
Beckmann and Luck
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