Dr. Rabson Mpundu Mulenga holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Plant Pathology attained at the University of Nairobi in 2022. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Crop Protection from the same University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Zambia. Over the past years, Dr. Mulenga has attained several trainings in various aspects of plant pathology and consequently conducted research in virology the results of which have led to designing of appropriate disease management strategies for improved crop yields among large, medium and smallscale farmers in Zambia.
Dr. Mulenga conducted a comprehensive assessment of the biodiversity of viruses infecting common bean in Zambia, characterized known and novel common bean infecting viruses and virus-like agents using various molecular tools, screened common bean cultivars for virus resistance, and identified genetic markers for BCMNV and BCMV resistance
Dr. Rabson M. Mulenga joined the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), a department in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Zambia as an Agricultural Research Officer. He has since risen to the position of Principal Agricultural Research Officer. Since joining ZARI, Dr. Rabson M. Mulenga has conducted research in viruses infecting various crops among them cassava, common bean, rice and maize. Results of his research have been published in high impact journals and also presented at several local and international fora.
Abstract
Virus disease symptoms are frequent in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) fields in Zambia, but information is scanty about the identities, distribution and genetic diversities of causal pathogens. This study was conducted to fill this knowledge gap. Surveys were conducted in 128 common bean fields across six provinces of Zambia located in agro-ecological zones (AEZs) II and III. In total, 640 leaf samples were collected for virus diagnoses. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) was conducted on the selected 223 samples resulting in detection of nine viruses belonging to the genera Potyvirus, Cucumovirus, Endornavirus, Sobemovirus and Umbravirus. All the 640 samples were screened for the HTS-detected viruses and results showed 65.1% single and ~1.9% mixed infections. Southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV) was the most (~29.4%) frequently detected virus in the samples. Across the AEZ, there was more virus diversity in AEZ II (5 to 8 viruses) than in AEZ III (3 to 5 viruses). Four pathogroups (PGs) (I, III, VIa and VIb) of bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV) and bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) were identified with the occurrence of PGs I and III in Zambia being reported for the first time in this study. Fourteen common bean cultivars were screened for resistance to BCMNV and BCMV. Cultivars Lwangeni and Lunga (bc-3 carriers) were resistant to all four PGs with the rest carrying (bc-12) were susceptible to viruses in PGs VIa and VIb. The results from this study will be used to design diagnostic tools for detecting common bean viruses in Zambia.
Important Links
Research Supervisors
Prof. Douglas W. Miano (PhD), Dr. Felister M. Nzuve, Dr. Evans Kaimoyo and Dr. Olufemi J. Alabi
