Prof. John S.Y. Eleblu

Prof. John S.Y. Eleblu

Director, jeleblu@ug.edu.gh

contact info

jeleblu@ug.edu.gh

About

John Saviour Yaw Eleblu, PhD

Director & Senior Lecturer, Biotechnology Centre, University of Ghana

Coordinator, Research Programmes, Francophone Africa, West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana

 

Prof. Eleblu holds a PhD degree in Plant Biology at the University of Paris Sud 11 (now Paris Saclay), Orsay in France. He was trained as an Agriculturist at the undergraduate level with specialization in Crop Science at the University of Ghana. At the post-graduate level, he specialized in Genetics and Breeding at the University of Ghana. He won the African Scientist Award and served as a Visiting Research Scientist under the African Research Fellowship of the Institute for Genomic Diversity (IGD), Cornell University, USA where he managed a research project on the genetic contributions of PINNOID genes in Maize plant and kernel architecture development (2007 – 2008). In 2014, After Prof. Eleblu was awarded a PhD in France, he worked as a post-doctoral scientist in the lab of his PhD supervisor, Dr. Abdelhafid Bendahmane. His post-doctoral studies involved analysis of gene expression to understand the molecular basis of parthenocarpy (seedlessness) in tomatoes at the famous Crop Genomics laboratory (located at INRA, URGV in France). His current research interests are in the genetic improvement of legumes for food and nutrition security in Africa. 

In February 2015, Prof. Eleblu was appointed a Lecturer and later promoted in 2021 to Senior Lecturer at the Biotechnology Centre, University of Ghana and he also serves as the Coordinator of Research Programmes, Francophone Africa for WACCI. He has won four outstanding grants/fellowships [USDA Norman Borlaug Fellowship, Alcorn State University, 2016; French Government Scholarships, France 2009; University of Ghana Faculty Development Grant, 2009; African Scientist Fellowship Programme, Cornell University (IGD) 2007]. He was a participant and alumni of the prestigious University of California DAVIS Africa Plant Breeding Academy Class IV Sessions 1, 2 and 3 at ICRAF Headquarters, (2018/2019) Nairobi - Kenya, Sponsored by: MARS Inc. He has requisite teaching and research expertise in plant functional genomics, molecular biology and breeding. 

Over these years, he has taught Genetics, Crop Improvement (Plant Breeding) and Genomics-related courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Department of Crop Science and the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI). He has contributed to the training of 1 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 17 Ph.D., 19 MPhil, and over 20 undergraduate students; with citation scholarly H-indices of 6 in Scopus, 9 at ResearchGate, and 10 at Google Scholar,and 39 peer-reviewed scientific publications in top journals. Prof. Eleblu has also served the University in various capacities. Notable achievements include being an alumnus and Class President of the African Plant Breeders Academy (AfPBA) Class 4. He continues to provide leadership and mentorship to my peers. This demonstrates his absolute commitment to service, education and empowerment of the youth in fighting for increased agricultural productivity, food and nutrition security in Africa. He has contributed to the development of several research projects thereby attracting grant funding of more than US$ 10 million to the University to support student training and research directly. He has over the years led impactful projects in the training of more than 4,000 farmers and 300 extension agents across Ghana, Burkina Faso and Nigeria in Good Agronomic Practices and the use of innovations for sustainable intensification via integrated soil and crop health management (an African Union – European Union funded project he led as a Co-Principal Investigator). He has distinguished himself in demonstrating leadership in Plant Breeding education, as Coordinator and Work Package Leader on the European Union ERASMUS Curriculum development project for “Improving Study Programs in Ghana by Introducing Green Solutions, Sustainability Modules and Digital Transformation” (€ 709,150) in Ghana. He has also led the development of PBEA Molecular Plant Breeding Course Materials as Teaching guides for Postgraduate level e-Learning resources for Plant Breeders in the area of education in partnership with experts from the University of Iowa, USA and University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, USA. (https://pbea-wacci.ug.edu.gh/). Prof. Eleblu has led several initiatives for youth and women empowerment, notable is his leadership role in creating training programmes for youth entrepreneurship and agribusiness incubation; a train-the-trainer programme for instructors in partnership with Dutch and ERASMUS Centre for Entrepreneurship (in the Netherlands) and he serves as the Coordinator (2022 – 2027) of the US 557,750 dollar KGL Foundation-sponsored incubator programme at the Kofi Annan Enterprise Hub for Agricultural Innovation (KAEHAI), WACCI. These initiatives have resulted in the development of more than 10 youth-led agribusiness start-up companies in Ghana which are supporting the commercialization of research outputs and agricultural innovations for food and nutrition security. Most recently he led as Co-Investigator in winning US$ 3 million initiative (2022 – 2027) as part of Ghana Government Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP) funded by the African Development Bank. Under this project, he is leading the development, and accreditation operationalization of an innovative 2-year MPhil in Biotechnology and a 4-year PhD in Biotechnology program at the Biotechnology Centre of the University of Ghana. Prof. Eleblu has developed more than 4,000 Cowpea (Beans) mutant M2 plants with unique characteristics and agronomically important traits which is a valuable resource for plant breeders and molecular biologists for varietal development and gene identification https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.952247.He has also advanced 400 of the mutant lines to the M6 generation and has about 15 improved high-yielding varieties ready for further testing, final approval for registration, and release for commercialization. He has contributed to training some of the top scientists in the country and many who are now also PhD holders whom he has mentored from the BSc level. The quality of training he provides to undergraduate students is highlighted by publications of some of his students’ research in top journals for example: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-023-02554-y. 

 

Education

  • PhD. Plant Biology, University Paris Sud, France (10/2009-05/2013)
  • MPhil. Crop Science, University of Ghana (08/2006-08/2008)
  • BSc. Hons. Agricultural Science, University of Ghana (08/2001-08/2005)
  • Senior Secondary School Certificate, Achimota Secondary School

Research Areas

My current research focus is centered on projects I have led at the University of Ghana in collaboration with members internally and externally. 

1. I am a Co-Principal Investigator on an African Development Bank-funded US$ 3 million project at the Biotechnology Centre, University of Ghana as part of the Ghana Government Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP). Under this project, I am leading the following research areas:

  • Biofortification of Cassava via gene mining and introgression of alleles for enhance Beta carotenoid contents (Pro-Vitamin A) in farmers preferred varieties which have usually very low 1-6 ug/g of the Pro-Vitamin A.
  • Gamma irradiation-enabled mutagenesis will be applied to sorghum farmer-preferred Naga white varieties to increase the protein content by at least 30%.
  • Using gene mining and molecular markers to introgress CMD resistance into farmer-preferred varieties to increase yields.
  • Gene mining and marker-assisted introgression of pest (thrips) resistance genes into farmer-preferred cowpea to increase yields and reduce the use of pesticides.
  • Establishment of 3 new labs (Plant and Animal Cell Imaging Lab, Plant Virology and Genomics Lab and Analytical Biochemistry Lab)

2. I am also leading the implementation of three research projects on Cowpea/Beans and Soybean at WACCI, University of Ghana. 

  • I have led the creation of an Ethyl Methane Sulphonate (EMS) chemically induced diversity panel of 4,000 mutants for forward and reverse genetics platform at the University of Ghana to serve as a source of huge genetic diversity for the scientific community. 
  • In partnership with the National Institute for Agricultural Botany (NIAB), United Kingdom, I am leading the development of tissue culture platforms for the sustainable improvement of Cowpeas in Ghana and for the subregion. 
  • In partnership with the Soybean Innovation Lab, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, USA, I have led the evaluation of 313 soybean genotypes collected from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) across three agro-ecological zones in Ghana.

3. In the past, I served as the Co-Principal Investigator under a US$ 1 million African Union – European Union Project (2018 – 2022) aimed at sustainable intensification of the production of Maize, Tomato, Cowpea and Rice through crop and soil health management. Under this project and my leadership, a total of about 116 farmer field schools (FFS) were conducted across 40 sites in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso where the demonstration trials were established; about 3,938 (2,950 males and 998 females) farmers have been trained under the FFS programme with about 244 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) engaged to facilitate knowledge sharing at FFS; 1,179 value chain actors have been engaged in value chain workshops organized on Cowpea, Maize, Tomato and Rice in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. 

  • Under this initiative I catalogued the needs of the value chain actors and have designed a demand-led breeding programme that aims to develop minimum cooking time (10 – 20 minutes), extra early maturity (60 DAP), high yielding potential (15% more yield compared to Hewale under normal growth conditions), drought tolerance (30% more yield compared to Hewale under drought), cream to white grain color, large grain size (20% larger than Hewale), pest/disease resistance (resistance to striga, thrips, and Cercospora leaf spot). 

 

Publications

Thesis:
  • John Saviour Yaw Eleblu (2013) Functional charaterization of CmWIP1 gene in the sex determination pathway of Cucumis melo using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system – thesis held by WorldCat member library worldwide.
  • John Saviour Yaw Eleblu (2008) Genetic Control of Maize (Zea Mays) Plant and Kernel Architecture – thesis held by Crop Science Library, University of Ghana.
  • John Saviour Yaw Eleblu (2005) Review of the Application of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) In Crop Improvement – dissertation held by Crop Science Library, University of Ghana.

 

Referred Journals Scientific Publications:
  • Eleblu J.S.Y., Darko E.T., Danquah E.Y. (2021) Case for Climate Smart Agriculture in Addressing the Threat of Climate Change. In: Leal Filho W., Ogugu N., Adelake L., Ayal D., da Silva I. (eds) African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42091-8_32-1
  • Roldan M. V. G., Izhaq F., Verdenaud M., Eleblu J., Haraghi A., Sommard V., Chambrier P., Latrasse D., J.gu T., Benhamed M., Sz.csi J., Bendahmane M.,Boualem A. & Bendahmane A. (2020) Integrative genome-wide analysis reveals the role of WIP proteins in inhibition of growth and development. Communications Biology 3, 239. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-0969-2
  • Eleblu, J.S.Y., Haraghi, A., Mania, B. et al., (2019) The gynoecious CmWIP1 transcription factor interacts with CmbZIP48 to inhibit carpel development. Scientific Reports 9, 15443 doi:10.1038/s41598-019-52004-z
  • Ngalamu, T., Meseka, S. K., Ifie, B. E., Ofori, K., & Eleblu, J.S.Y. (2019). Analysis of Phenotypic Stability in 25 Cowpea Genotypes Across Six Environments. Accepted (Corresponding Author
  • Bonney, P., Eleblu, J.S.Y., & Eziah, V. (2019). Screening of 25 cowpea genotypes for resistance to Megalurothrips sjostedti Trybom in southern Ghana, Legumes Research https://doi.org/10.18805/LR-477 Accepted (Corresponding Author)
  • Dadzie, M. A., Oppong, A. , Ofori, K. , Eleblu, J. S., Beatrice, I. E., Blay, E. T., Obeng‐Bio, E. , Appiah‐Kubi, Z. and Warburton, M. L. (2019), Distribution and genetic diversity among Aspergillus flavus isolates across three agro‐ecologies essential for maize cultivation in Ghana, Plant Pathology. doi:10.1111/ppa.13067
  • Dadzie, M. A., Oppong, A., Ofori, K., Eleblu, J. S., Ifie, E. B., Blay, E., … Warburton, M. L. (2019). Distribution of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin accumulation in stored maize grains across three agro-ecologies in Ghana. Food Control, 104, 91–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FOODCONT.2019.04.035
  • Sseremba, Godfrey, Pangirayi Tongoona, John Eleblu, Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, and Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito. (2018). “Heritability of Drought Resistance in Solanum Aethiopicum Shum Group and Combining Ability of Genotypes for Drought Tolerance and Recovery.” Scientia Horticulturae 240 (October): 213–20. doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2018.06.028.
  • Sseremba, G., Tongoona, P., Eleblu, J. S. Y., Danquah, E. Y., and E. B., Kizito (2018) Linear Discriminant Analysis of Structure Within African Eggplant ‘Shum’. African Crop Science Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 37 - 48
  • Sseremba, G., Tongoona, P., Eleblu, J. S. Y., Danquah, E. Y., Kaweesi T., Baguma Y., Masanza, M., and Kizito., E. B., (2018) “Stability of Solanum Aethiopicum Shum Accessions under Varied Water Deficit Stress Levels and Identification of Pertinent Breeding Traits for Resistance to Water Shortage.” Euphytica 214 (1): 11. doi:10.1007/s10681-017-2097-8.
  • Sseremba, G., Tongoona, P., Eleblu, J. S. Y., Danquah, E. Y., Pamela Nahamya Kabod, P. N., and Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito, E. B. (2017). Morphological Distinctiveness between Solanum aethiopicum Shum Group and its Progenitor, Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science (Corresponding Author)
  • Dawud, M. A., Angarawai, I. I., Tongoona, P. B., Ofori, K., Eleblu, J. S. Y., and Beatrice E. Ifie, B. E., (2017). Farmers’ Production Constraints, Knowledge of Striga and Preferred Traits of Pearl Millet in Jigawa State, Nigeria, Global Journal of Science Frontier Research: D Agriculture and Veterinary, Volume 17 Issue 3 Version 1.0, Online ISSN: 2249-4626 & Print ISSN: 0975-5896
  • Foucart C., Boualem A., Lasseur B., Eleblu J., Izhaq F., Bendahmane A. (2012) Le déterminisme du sexe chez les Cucurbitacées. Biologie Aujourd’hui, vol. 206 no. 1, pp. 57-62 
  • Eleblu J. and Danquah E. (2006) A Review of the Applications of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) In Crop Improvement. Journal of the Ghana Science Association Vol. 8. No. 2, pp. 13 – 25

 

Book Chapter:
  • K., Offei, Yirenkyi Danquah E., Owusu-Darko R., Eleblu J., and Adjei E. (2014). “5. Improving Food and Nutritional Security in Ghana through Mutation Breeding of Sorghum.” In Mutagenesis: Exploring Novel Genes and Pathways, 125–142. doi:10.3920/978-90-8686-787-5_5.

 

Refereed Conference Proceedings:
  • Ngalamu T., Ofori K., Meseka S.K. Eleblu J.S.Y. and Ifie B.E. (2018) Assessment of genetic diversity among some cowpea accessions from East and West Africa. In: WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018, October 03 - 04, 2018, WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018.
  • Dawud, M. A. and Tongoona, P. B. and Angarawai, I. I. and Ofori, K. and Eleblu, J. S. Y. (2018) Towards identifying novel sources of resistance to striga in pearl millet under natural field infestation. In: WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018, October 03 - 04, 2018, WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018.
  • Sseremba G., Tongoona P.B., Eleblu J.S.Y., Danquah E.Y., Kaweesi T., Baguma Y., Masanza M. and Kizito E.B. (2018) Stability of Solanum aethiopicum Shum accessions under varied water deficit stress levels and identification of pertinent breeding traits for resistance to water shortage. In: WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018, October 03 - 04, 2018, WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018.
  • Dadzie M.A., Oppong A., Ofori K., Blay E.T., Eleblu J.S.Y., Ifie B.E. and Warburton M. (2018) Genetic Analysis of new maize hybrids for yield, stability and resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. In: WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018, October 03 - 04, 2018, WACCI International Conference on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa 2018.
  • Danquah E.Y., Offei S. K., Gracen V. E., Dzidzienyo D. K., Danquah A., Tongoona P., Ifie B. E., Eleblu J. S. Y. and Madakadzen R. M. (2015) The West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana: An Emerging Centre of Excellence for Training Plant Breeders in Africa. Selected Papers of Proceedings of COREVIP 2015. Association of African Universities ISBN: 978-9988-589-52-2

 

Varieties Released:
  • Pangirayi B. Tongoona, Beatrice E. Ifie, Amos R. Azinu, Daniel K. Dzidzienyo, Agyemang Danquah, John S.Y. Eleblu, Kwadwo Ofori, Samuel K. Offei, Eric. Y. Danquah. (June 2017). Proposal for the Release of White Grained Maize Hybrids Presented to the National Variety Release and Registration Committee. Sponsored with funds from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) (2009-2012) and Scaling Seeds and Technology Program (SSTP) of AGRA (2015-2017) (Scientific Team Member)