Chloroplasts play a great role for sustained wellbeing of life on the planet. They have the power and raw materials that can be used as sophisticated biological factories. They are rich in energy as they have lots of pigment-protein complexes capable of collecting sunlight, in sugar produced by photosynthesis and in minerals imported from the plant cell. Chloroplast genome transformation offers multiple advantages over nuclear genome which among others, include: integration of the transgene via homologus recombination that enables to eliminate gene silencing and position effect, higher level of transgene expression resulting into higher accumulations of foreign proteins, and significant reduction in environmental dispersion of the transgene due to maternal inheritance which helps to minimize the major critic of plant genetic engineering. Chloroplast genetic engineering has made fruit full progresses in the development of plants resistance to various stresses, phytoremediation of toxic metals, and production of vaccine antigens, biopharmaceuticals, biofuels, biomaterials and industrial enzymes. Although successful results have been achieved, there are still difficulties impeding full potential exploitation and expansion of chloroplast transformation technology to economical plants. These include, lack of species specific regulatory sequences, problem of selection and shoot regeneration, and massive expression of foreign genes resulting in phenotypic alterations of transplastomic plants. The aim of this review is to critically recapitulate the latest development of chloroplast transformation with special focus on the different traits of economic interest.

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Arboviral infections, especially dengue fever and chikungunya, are emerging diseases that pose a significant public health challenge in Ethiopia. These viruses are primarily transmitted by the widely spread Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti). Studies on arboviruses using molecular techniques are limited in Ethiopia, but it is important for informing public health decisions. This study aimed to molecularly detect dengue and chikungunya viruses in wild-caught Aedes mosquitoes across the arboviral endemic regions of Ethiopia. Larvae and adult stage Aedes mosquitoes were collected using Pasteur pipettes, standard CDC manual mouth aspirator, and improved Prokopack aspirators from four study sites between October 2022 and June 2023. The mosquitoes were pooled by species, date of collection, and collection site into 1 mL prefilled DNA/RNA Shield tubes with bead beats. After the RNA was extracted from the mosquito homogenates, it was screened for dengue and chikungunya viruses by Real-Time PCR. Results were interpreted based on the Ct values, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), CDC pooled methodology, and Clopper-Pearson binomial bounds to determine the dengue infection rate in the population. A total of 3,510 Aedes mosquitoes were collected, with the majority identified as Ae. aegypti (88%) and the remaining 12% were Ae. simpsoni complex. DENV was detected in three mosquito pools, comprising one from Dire Dawa and two from Afar. Subsequent serotyping revealed that all DENV-positive pools belonged to serotype 3 and were derived from Ae. aegypti. No positive pools for CHIKV were found. We found a low MLE in both Dire Dawa and Afar sites. We detected DENV-3 in Ae. aegypti from Afar and Dire Dawa before an outbreak happened. We reported low level of MLE value from both sites. The finding provides valuable information for public health decision-making. Continuous surveillance at different times is important to detect early signs of an outbreak and identify information needed for timely responses. CHIKV was not detected in the current study, and by considering the past outbreaks and regional transmission, continuous surveillance remains important. Aedes aegypti was predominantly reported from three of the study sites, whereas Ae. simpsoni complex is predominantly reported from Wolaita Sodo, and its vectorial role is uncertain. Further studies recommended to explore the screening of other arboviruses and use of advanced techniques to gain insights into the circulating arboviruses in Aedes mosquitoes in Ethiopia.