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Dr Maretha O'Kennedy is a Specialist Scientist in cereal transgenics at CSIR Biosciences. Her key competence focuses on cereal genetic engineering to improve nutritional quality and disease resistance.
Genetic engineering of cereal food crops (maize, pearl millet and sorghum) using Agrobacterium- and biolistic-mediated transformation to confer mainly fungal resistance and improved nutritional quality. Senior Scientist participating in the Africa Biofortified sorghum project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Successful application of a South Africa-UK Science Networks Exploratory visit (October 2008) to fund five senior scientists to visit Prof Peter Beyer, Dr Paul Fraser at the Royal Holloway, University of London, Prof Peter Shewry at Rothamsted Research and Prof David Baulcombe at the University of Cambridge.
O'Kennedy MM, Burger JT and Botha FC 2004. Pearl millet transformation system using the positive selectable marker gene phosphomannose isomerase. Plant Cell Reports, 22(9): 684-690.
O'Kennedy MM, Grootboom A and Shewry PR 2006. Harnessing Sorghum and Millet Biotechnology for Food and Health: A review. Journal of Cereal Science, 44 (3): 224-235.
O'Kennedy MM and Girgi M, 2007. Book chapter: "Pearl millet". Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry Vol. 59: Transgenic Crops IV.
O'Kennedy MM, Crampton B, and P. Ozias-Akins P 2008. Pearl millet, in C Kole and T C Hall (Eds.), A Compendium of Transgenic Crop Plants: Cereals and Forage Grasses", Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK
O'Kennedy MM, Crampton BG, Breese WA, Girgi M, Burger JT and Botha FC 2008. Expression of β-1,3-glucanase from a biocontrol fungus (Trichoderma atroviride) in transgenic pearl millet fails to confer tolerance to Sclerospora graminicola or Puccinia substriata. Transgenic Research", submitted and currently under review.
Dr Maretha O'Kennedy,
Tel: +27 12 841 2535,
Fax: +27 12 841 3651
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