\u3ci\u3eAspergillus\u3c/i\u3e and aflatoxin in groundnut (\u3ci\u3eArachis hypogaea\u3c/i\u3e L.) and groundnut cake in Eastern Ethiopia

This study was conducted to assess major Aspergillus species and aflatoxins associated with groundnut seeds and cake in Eastern Ethiopia and evaluate growers’ management practices. A total of 160 groundnut seed samples from farmers’ stores and 50 groundnut cake samples from cafe and restaurants were collected. Fungal isolation was done from groundnut seed samples. Aspergillus flavus was the dominant species followed by Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxin analyses of groundnut seed samples were performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography; 22.5% and 41.3% of samples were positive, with total aflatoxin concentrations of 786 and 3135 ng g−1 from 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 samples, respectively. The level of specific aflatoxin concentration varied between 0.1 and 2526 ng g−1 for B2 and B1, respectively. Among contaminated samples of groundnut cake, 68% exhibited aflatoxin concentration below 20 ng g−1, while as high as 158 ng g−1 aflatoxin B1 was recorded. The study confirms high contamination of groundnut products in East Ethiopia

Genetic fingerprinting and aflatoxin production of \u3ci\u3eAspergillus\u3c/i\u3e section Flavi associated with groundnut in eastern Ethiopia

Background: Aspergillus species cause aflatoxin contamination in groundnut kernels, being a health threat in agricultural products and leading to commodity rejection by domestic and international markets. Presence of Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus colonizing groundnut in eastern Ethiopia, as well as presence of aflatoxins have been reported, though in this region, no genetic studies have been done of these species in relation to their aflatoxin production. Results: In this study, 145 Aspergillus isolates obtained from groundnut kernels in eastern Ethiopia were genetically fingerprinted using 23 Insertion/Deletion (InDel) markers within the aflatoxin-biosynthesis gene cluster (ABC), identifying 133 ABC genotypes. Eighty-four isolates were analyzed by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) for in vitro aflatoxin production. Analysis of genetic distances based on the approximately 85 kb-ABC by Neighbor Joining (NJ), 3D-Principal Coordinate Analysis (3D-PCoA), and Structure software, clustered the isolates into three main groups as a gradient in their aflatoxin production. Group I, contained 98% A. flavus, including L- and non-producers of sclerotia (NPS), producers of B1 and B2 aflatoxins, and most of them collected from the lowland-dry Babile area. Group II was a genetic admixture population of A. flavus (NPS) and A. flavus S morphotype, both low producers of aflatoxins. Group III was primarily represented by A. parasiticus and A. flavus S morphotype isolates both producers of B1, B2 and G1, G2 aflatoxins, and originated from the regions of Darolabu and Gursum. The highest in vitro producer of aflatoxin B1 was A. flavus NPS N1436 (77.98 μg/mL), and the highest producer of aflatoxin G1 was A. parasiticus N1348 (50.33 μg/mL), these isolates were from Gursum and Darolabu, respectively. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that combined the use of InDel fingerprinting of the ABC and corresponding aflatoxin production capability to describe the genetic diversity of Aspergillus isolates from groundnut in eastern Ethiopia. Three InDel markers, AFLC04, AFLC08 and AFLC19, accounted for the main assignment of individuals to the three Groups; their loci corresponded to aflC (pksA), hypC, and aflW (moxY) genes, respectively. Despite InDels within the ABC being often associated to loss of aflatoxin production, the vast InDel polymorphism observed in the Aspergillus isolates did not completely impaired their aflatoxin production in vitro

The Return of the Rosetta Target: Keck Near-infrared Observations of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2021

peer reviewedHigh-resolution near-infrared ground-based spectroscopic observations of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko near its maximum activity in 2021 were conducted from the W. M. Keck Observatory, using the facility spectrograph NIRSPEC. 67P is the best-studied comet to date because of the unprecedented detail and insights provided by the Rosetta mission during 2014-2016. Because 67P is the only comet where the detailed abundances of many coma volatiles were measured in situ, determining its composition from the ground provides a unique opportunity to interpret Rosetta results within the context of the large database of ground-based compositional measurements of comets. However, previous apparitions, including in 2015, have been unfavorable for in-depth ground-based studies of parent volatiles in 67P. The 2021 apparition of 67P was thus the first-ever opportunity for such observations. We report gas spatial distributions, rotational temperatures, production rates, and relative abundances (or stringent upper limits) among seven volatile species: C2H2, C2H6, HCN, NH3, CH3OH, H2CO, and H2O. The measured abundances of trace species relative to water reveal near average or below average values compared to previous comets studied at infrared wavelengths. Both gas rotational temperatures and the spatial distributions of H2O, C2H6, and HCN measured with Keck-NIRSPEC in 2021 are consistent with the outgassing patterns revealed by Rosetta in 2015 at very similar heliocentric distance (post-perihelion). These results can be integrated with both Rosetta mission findings and ground-based cometary studies of the overall comet population, for which we encourage a wide-scale collaboration across measurement techniques

Coffee Leaf Rust Epidemics (<i>Hemileia vastatrix</i>) in Montane Coffee (<i>Coffea arabica</i> L.) Forests in Southwestern Ethiopia

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is native to southwestern Ethiopia growing as understory of the rainforests that harbor huge floral and faunal diversities. Besides drastic reduction in the forest cover and low average yield, the crop is attacked by several diseases among which coffee berry disease, coffee wilt disease and coffee leaf rust caused by Colletotrichum kahawae, Gibberella xylarioides and Hemileia vastatrix, respectively, are the major fungal diseases contributing to reduced yield in the country. The epidemics of coffee leaf rust (CLR) was monitored between July 2007 and April 2008 in Bonga, Berhane-Kontir and Yayu montane coffee forest populations of southwest Ethiopia to determine the incidence and severity of CLR and its seasonal variation in the forest coffee populations and their reaction to leaf rust in the natural habitat. Thirty coffee trees were selected from each forest (three sites within a forest) coffee population to record incidence (percent rusted leaves), severity (percent leaf area damaged) and sporulated lesion density (number of lesion per leaf, SLD) from selected six branches per tree. An average of 10-12 leaves per branch was considered to determine each disease parameter. The data were analyzed using nested design (tree under location) using SAS statistical package. The occurrence of CLR significantly varied with locations and seasons. Overall mean incidence of 31.1, 21.4 and 7.9 and SLD of 2.7, 1.8 and 0.86 occurred in Yayu, Berhane-Kontir and Bonga montane coffee forest populations, respectively. Leaf rust was low (13.9%) in July 2007 and high (29.6%) in January 2008. Significant variation observed among each coffee tree within a location and season significantly interacted with both location and coffee trees within a location. The mean rust incidence varied from 0.36 to 18.5% in Bonga, 1.8 to 49% in Berhane-Kontir, and 11.8 to 62.6% in Yayu forest coffee populations. The corresponding severity ranged from 0.08 - 1.2%, 0.24 - 1.7% and 0.91 - 3.3% whereas the SLD varied from 0.08 - 1.9, 0.33 - 3.65 and 1.5 - 5.9% in that order. The observed heterogeneity of forest coffee populations to leaf rust in the field under native agro-ecology provides an opportunity to develop resistant varieties among the enormous forest coffee genetic resources and at the same time calls for strategic multi-site in situ conservation to rescue and maintain the present genetic variation and enhance co-evolutionary processes. The selected forest coffee trees that showed promising results should be further investigated for their possible value for future utilization. The location-season and coffee tree-season interaction effects necessitate characterization of Hemileia vastatrix races prevalent at each location and insist strategic variety development for contrasting environments.Keywords: Coffee Leaf Rust; Ethiopian Coffee; Epidemics; Hemileia Vastatrix; Incidence; Seasonal Variation; Severit

\u3ci\u3eAspergillus\u3c/i\u3e and aflatoxin in groundnut (\u3ci\u3eArachis hypogaea\u3c/i\u3e L.) and groundnut cake in Eastern Ethiopia

This study was conducted to assess major Aspergillus species and aflatoxins associated with groundnut seeds and cake in Eastern Ethiopia and evaluate growers’ management practices. A total of 160 groundnut seed samples from farmers’ stores and 50 groundnut cake samples from cafe and restaurants were collected. Fungal isolation was done from groundnut seed samples. Aspergillus flavus was the dominant species followed by Aspergillus parasiticus. Aflatoxin analyses of groundnut seed samples were performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography; 22.5% and 41.3% of samples were positive, with total aflatoxin concentrations of 786 and 3135 ng g−1 from 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 samples, respectively. The level of specific aflatoxin concentration varied between 0.1 and 2526 ng g−1 for B2 and B1, respectively. Among contaminated samples of groundnut cake, 68% exhibited aflatoxin concentration below 20 ng g−1, while as high as 158 ng g−1 aflatoxin B1 was recorded. The study confirms high contamination of groundnut products in East Ethiopia

Maternal Time Use Drives Suboptimal Complementary Feeding Practices in the El Niño-Affected Eastern Ethiopia Community

Ethiopia is affected by recurrent drought and food-insecurity crises, including El Niño. El Niño started in mid-2014, worsened in 2015, and continued in 2016, leading to a widespread food-insecurity emergency resulting in a surge in the rate of acute malnutrition in infants due to suboptimal feeding practices. This study explored how El Niño influenced complementary feeding practices in the eastern Ethiopia community from March to September 2016. It was an exploratory qualitative study with a basic interpretative qualitative approach. A general inductive approach was used for the analysis. The study involved 11 focus group discussions (FGD) with a total of 76 people, including three with mothers, three with Health Development Army (HDA) leaders, two with fathers, two with traditional birth attendants, and one with religious leaders. El Niño resulted in failed crops and loss of livestock, resulting in reduced dietary diversity and meal frequency. El Niño resulted in suboptimal complementary feeding practices by reducing food access and altering livelihood and coping strategies, reducing the time mothers allocated to child feeding, keeping them away from home, and stressing community health services. The maternal suboptimal time allocation is central to the poor complementary feeding practices. Thus, the women should be supported with climate-resilient livelihood options in their villages, allowing them to feed their children and attend education sessions with HDA leaders

The facilitators and barriers of adopting amylase‐rich flour to enhance complementary foods in the Kersa district community of Eastern Ethiopia

Achieving the optimal transition to a family diet over the first two years of life has remained a challenge in Ethiopia. The use of amylase-rich flour (ARF) can improve complementary foods. However, utilisation requires an effective delivery strategy for upskilling the community to use ARF. The aim of this study was to explore facilitators and barriers of cascading ARF skills to improve complementary foods. The study was conducted in Gale Mirga kebele of Kersa district in Eastern Ethiopia in 2016. The study utilised exploratory qualitative research that used participatory action. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with the Health Development Army (HDA) leaders, religious leaders, and observation of participatory complementary food demonstrations. Cultural acceptability and the presence of HDA structure that supports skill development were identified as key facilitators to ARF use. On the other hand, the potential barriers to expanding ARF skill were lack of sustainability of external skill support for HDA leaders, perceived time constraints, unsuitable demonstration settings, cooking method, and large group size. The indigenous community&rsquo;s knowledge of germination has not been used to improve complementary foods. The universal use of ARF requires integration into the Health Extension Programme (HEP) with support and supervision for HDA leaders.</jats:p