TRAINING IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
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Monday, September 19
The training started with opening speeches by the director of the laboratory, Dr. L. Ouedraogo, the head of “Rice” program, Dr. I. Ouedraogo and the head of “Vegetable, fruit and tuber plants” program, Dr. Tarpaga.
The context for the training was presented as well as the PathoBios Joint International Laboratory and the schedule for the week.
The training then started with two theoretical presentations: one on “General reminder on molecular biology: cells, nucleic acids and enzymes” and the other one on “Generalities on pathogen detection”, and notably molecular diagnosis.
The first morning ended with a visit at the laboratory.
Tuesday, September 20
The second day was dedicated to the extraction stage of nucleic acids. Two groups practiced, each, one method: 1/ extracting DNA of Xanthomonas oryzae bacteria with Dr. I. Wonni and 2/ extracting DNA of Phytopathogenic fungi with A. Tiendrebeogo.
A presentation on laboratory best practices and hygiene rules and security was made by M. Douanio.
Wednesday, September 21
The third day was dedicated to the PCR stage. Theoretical reminders were firstly made, and then, each group proceeded with a PCR from DNA samples collected from extracts on the eve with Dr. C. Tollenaere. A Xanthomonas oryzae detection PCR was conducted on bacterial DNA (group 1) and the amplification of the ITS region was made on fungal DNA (group 2).
Thursday, September 22
The manipulations made on the previous two days were discussed as part of writing a laboratory book. A theoretical presentation on the “Reverse Transcription and Quantitative PCR” techniques was made.
Ultimately, an electrophoresis on agarose gel was conducted for each of the groups with Dr. C. Tollenaere in order to visualize the PCR results.
Friday, September 23
A presentation on DNA sequencing and analysis was made. Then, two workshops focused on molecular biology applications. Dr. Cyrille Zombre presented his methods and results from mango tree bacterial disease, while Dr. Abalo Raoul Kassankogno’s presentation was on rice blast.
The training ended with a global assessment on the week. 90% of the students found the level of the training adapted. They noted the interest in the manipulations and appreciated the practical parts of the training. Recommendations were made for the next trainings on the following topics: quantifying genetic expression, microsatellite polymorphism labels, phylogeny, lamp… Recommendations were made to reinforce the manipulations and sequencing analysis, as well as organizing new sessions that could benefit other students.