Tef, also known as Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter, is a highly nutritious gluten-free cereal native to the Horn of Africa. It has significant importance in food and nutrition security, with high micro-and macro-nutritional profiles, including high iron and calcium content among cereals, and is popular in the healthy grain food chain [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Tef starch has a high gelatinization temperature, making it suitable for low glycemic index food preparation [1].

However, the productivity of tef is affected by lodging, weed infestation, terminal drought, small seed size, and shattering [2]. Although it is a staple food for many in Ethiopia, it has been an "orphan crop" with relatively little scientific improvement, leading to low productivity [3]. Recent availability of tef genome sequences has highlighted the need to harness its benefits for food security, and advanced omics tools are being used to explore its diversity and increase productivity [2,4].

In conclusion, Tef is a valuable cereal with great potential in improving food and nutrition security. Understanding its genomics through tools like gene-based models (although not specifically mentioned in the provided abstracts regarding KO/CKO mouse models) could potentially help overcome the productivity challenges and further explore its nutritional benefits. The research on Tef is crucial for enhancing its role in global food systems.

References:

1. Shumoy, Habtu, Raes, Katleen. . Tef: The Rising Ancient Cereal: What do we know about its Nutritional and Health Benefits? In Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands), 72, 335-344. doi:10.1007/s11130-017-0641-2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29098639/

2. Girija, Aiswarya, Jifar, Habte, Jones, Chris, Doonan, John, Mur, Luis A J. 2021. Tef: a tiny grain with enormous potential. In Trends in plant science, 27, 220-223. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2021.11.011. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34865980/

3. Chanyalew, Solomon, Ferede, Setotaw, Damte, Tebkew, Tadele, Zerihun, Assefa, Kebebew. 2019. Significance and prospects of an orphan crop tef. In Planta, 250, 753-767. doi:10.1007/s00425-019-03209-z. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31222492/

4. Ramírez Gonzales, Lorena Y, Cannarozzi, Gina, Jäggi, Lea, Dell'Acqua, Matteo, Tadele, Zerihun. 2024. The role of omics in improving the orphan crop tef. In Trends in genetics : TIG, 40, 449-461. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2024.03.003. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38599921/

5. Assefa, Kebebew, Cannarozzi, Gina, Girma, Dejene, Rafudeen, Suhail, Tadele, Zerihun. 2015. Genetic diversity in tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter]. In Frontiers in plant science, 6, 177. doi:10.3389/fpls.2015.00177. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25859251/

6. Girma, Dejene, Assefa, Kebebew, Chanyalew, Solomon, Kuhlemeier, Cris, Tadele, Zerihun. . The origins and progress of genomics research on Tef (Eragrostis tef). In Plant biotechnology journal, 12, 534-40. doi:10.1111/pbi.12199. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24891040/