Utility of the Macro-Micromorphological Characteristics Used in Classifying the Species of Termitomyces

Delimitation of Termitomyces species principally rely on the macro-micromorphological characteristics of the species although recently they are supplemented by molecular techniques. Utility of these characters have never been examined to authenticate their usefulness. The present paper therefore, provides a detailed study on the efficacy of the macro and micro-morphological characters used in classifying Termitomyces species. Macromorphologically, capsize was very useful and based on it, three groups were established. Other more useful characters include colour of the cap and pseudorrhiza presence. Annulus presence, pseudorrhiza colour, size, and morphometry were apparently unuseful. Micromorphology was less informative and ambiguously used while untetra basidiospore character was revealed for the first time in this genus. In general macromorphological characteristics provide more reliable taxonomic information to delineate most of the species in the genus than micromophology. However, for the more similar species, an analysis of more stable molecular characters is required. More distinguishing characters are yet to be revealed while ascertaining the used one and taxonomic status of T. citriophylus is essential.Keywords: Characters, Macro-micromorphology, Mushrooms, Taxonomy, TermitomycesTanz. J. Sci. Vol 36 2010, 31-4

Prevalence and risk factors for vaginal candidiasis among women seeking primary care for genital infections in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Objective: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for vaginal candidiasis (VC) among women seeking primary care for genital infections. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Ilala Municipal Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Subjects: Four hundred and sixty four women presenting with complaints of genital infections. Results: Of the 464 women examined, 177 (38.1%) had abnormal vaginal discharge, 68(14.7%) had genital ulcers, 272 (58.6%) had genital pruritis, 18 (3.9%) had genital warts and 58 (12.5%) had chancre. The prevalencies of VC, bacterial vaginosis, HIV, T vaginalis, N. gonorrhoeae and syphilis were 45%, 48.4%, 22%, 93%, 1.5% and 4.3%, respectively. The occurrence of VC was positively associated with HIV, (OR=1.81, 95% CI (1.0-2.67), bacterial vaginosis; (OR=2.6, 95%CI (1.7-3.9), genital pruritis; (OR=1.8 1, 95%CI (1.2- 2.7) genital discharge; (OR=1.867, 95% (1.28-2.73) and negatively with T. vaginalis (OR=0.27, 95% CI (0.12 - 0.6), occupation (OR=0.65, 95%CI (0.35-0.86)) and with education (OR=0.43, 95% CI (0.11-0.73). There were increased but non-significant odds for VC in patients with syphilis (OR=1.6 95%CI (0.6-4.3) and venereal warts (OR=2.5 95% CI (0.92-6.8) VC was not associated with N. gonorrhoeae, genital ulcers, age at first intercourse, number of sexual partners, marital status or antibiotic usage. Conculsion: The high prevalence of vaginal candidiasis among women with genital infections should be taken into account when updating policies concerning syndromic management of sexually transmitted diseases. More gender specific approach to syndromic management of sexually transmitted infections in females should be considered. East African Medical Journal Vol.82(3) 2005: 139-14

Performance of a sisal fibre fixed-bed anaerobic digester for biogas production from sisal pulp waste

A single stage anaerobic digester employing a sisal fibre waste fixed bed was studied for biogas production from sisal pulp waste. The fibre was colonized by microorganisms involved in biogas production. The sisal pulp waste to be digested was fed from the top and was sprinkled intermittently with recirculating leachate from the material. Organic loading rates of 0.1-10 kg volatile solids (VS) m-3d-1 could be applied and methane yields in the range of 0.13-0.48 m3 CH4 kg-1 VS added were obtained. The average methane content in the biogas produced from sisal pulp waste was 55%, and the biogas production rate was 0.15-0.54 m3m-3d-1. The methane yield obtained and the highest organic loading rate that could be sustained by this simple, fixed-bed digester are indications of an attractive system in terms of performance and reliability. It is concluded that the sisal fibre waste fixed bed is a promising carrier for microbes and can be employed for long-term operation without changing the bed. Tanzania Journal of Science Vol. 31 (2) 2005: pp. 41-5

Selection of diazotrophic bacterial communities in biological sand filter mesocosms used for the treatment of phenolic-laden wastewater

Agri effluents such as winery or olive mill waste-waters are characterized by high phenolic concentrations. These compounds are highly toxic and generally refractory to biodegradation. Biological sand filters (BSFs) represent inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and sustainable wastewater treatment systems which rely vastly on microbial catabolic processes. Using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism, this study aimed to assess the impact of increasing concentrations of synthetic phenolic-rich wastewater, ranging from 96 mg L−1 gallic acid and138 mg L−1 vanillin (i.e., a total chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 234 mg L−1) to 2,400mg L−1 gallic acid and 3,442 mg L−1 vanillin (5,842 mg COD L−1), on bacterialcommunities and the specific functional diazotrophic community from BSF mesocosms. This amendment procedure instigated efficient BSF phenolic removal, significant modifications of the bacterial communities, and notably led to the selection of a phenolic-resistant and less diverse diazotrophic community. This suggests that bioavailable N is crucial in the functioning of biological treatment processes involving microbial communities, and thus that functional alterations in the bacterial communities in BSFs ensure provision of sufficient bioavailable nitrogen for the degradation of wastewater with a high C/N ratio.Web of Scienc

A synthesis of past, current and future research for protection and management of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.) wetlands in Africa

Papyrus wetlands (dominated by the giant sedge Cyperus papyrus L.) occur throughout eastern, central and southern Africa and are important for biodiversity, for water quality and quantity regulation and for the livelihoods of millions of people. To draw attention to the importance of papyrus wetlands, a special session entitled ‘‘The ecology of livelihoods in papyrus wetlands’’ was organized at the 9th INTECOL Wetlands Conference in Orlando, Florida in June 2012. Papers from the session, combined with additional contributions, were collected in a special issue of Wetlands Ecology and Management. The current paper reviews ecological and hydrological characteristics of papyrus wetlands, summarizes their ecosystem services and sustainable use, provides an overview of papyrus research to date, and looks at policy development for papyrus wetlands. Based on this review, the paper provides a synthesis of research and policy priorities for papyrus wetlands and introduces the contributions in the special issue. Main conclusions are that (1) there is a need for better estimates of the area covered by papyrus wetlands. Limited evidence suggests that the loss of papyrus wetlands is rapid in some areas; (2) there is a need for a better understanding and modelling of the regulating services of papyrus wetlands to support trade-off analysis and improve economic valuation; (3) research on papyrus wetlands should include assessment of all ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, habitat, cultural) so that trade-offs can be determined as the basis for sustainable management strategies (‘wise use’); (4) more research on the governance, institutional and socio-economic aspects of papyrus wetlands is needed to assist African governments in dealing with the challenges of conserving wetlands in the face of growing food security needs and climate change. The papers in the special issue address a number of these issues

Wetlands for wastewater treatment and subsequent recycling of treated effluent : a review

Due to water scarcity challenges around the world, it is essential to think about non-conventional water resources to address the increased demand in clean freshwater. Environmental and public health problems may result from insufficient provision of sanitation and wastewater disposal facilities. Because of this, wastewater treatment and recycling methods will be vital to provide sufficient freshwater in the coming decades, since water resources are limited and more than 70% of water are consumed for irrigation purposes. Therefore, the application of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation has much potential, especially when incorporating the reuse of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which are essential for plant production. Among the current treatment technologies applied in urban wastewater reuse for irrigation, wetlands were concluded to be the one of the most suitable ones in terms of pollutant removal and have advantages due to both low maintenance costs and required energy. Wetland behavior and efficiency concerning wastewater treatment is mainly linked to macrophyte composition, substrate, hydrology, surface loading rate, influent feeding mode, microorganism availability, and temperature. Constructed wetlands are very effective in removing organics and suspended solids, whereas the removal of nitrogen is relatively low, but could be improved by using a combination of various types of constructed wetlands meeting the irrigation reuse standards. The removal of phosphorus is usually low, unless special media with high sorption capacity are used. Pathogen removal from wetland effluent to meet irrigation reuse standards is a challenge unless supplementary lagoons or hybrid wetland systems are used

Pretreatment of robusta coffee hulls and co-digestion with cow-dung for enhanced anaerobic digestion

The effect of alkali pre-treatment on anaerobic digestion of Robusta coffee hulls with a lignin content of 29% was studied in batch culture at 55˚C. In order to investigate the effect of cow dung in minimising the effect of coffee-based inhibitory compounds, digestion experiments were performed with blends of pre-treated and non-treated coffee hulls and cow dung with 0,5,10,20,30,50,75 and 100% coffee hulls at a total volatile solids concentration of 1.8g/l fermentation volume. Methane production increased with increase in coffee hulls concentration up to 30% for both substrates. The lowest production was observed at 100% non-treated coffee hulls. Methane production was significantly higher (13-164%) for the pre-treated substrates compared to the non treated one. The highest increase was obtained at 100% coffee hulls. Degradation of volatile solids decreased with increase in coffee hulls concentration for both substrates. The extent of degradation of the pre-treated substrate (59-94%) was significantly higher than that obtained for the non-treated substrate (30-91%). The lowest extent of degradation was measured for the non-treated hulls at 100%. It is possible that there was an inhibition of methanogenesis by coffee based compounds with increase in the coffee hulls concentration in the digestion mixture. Tanz. J. Sci Vol. 28(2) 2002: 1-1

Identification of mushroom mycelia using DNA techniques

The suitability of using DNA techniques in the determination of relatedness of mushroom fruiting bodies to isolated mycelia was examined. Nine isolates of edible mushroom mycelia of general Oudemansiella, Coprinus and Pleurotus were identified using fruiting bodies as references. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in conbination with Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RLFP) analyses were carried out on fruiting bodies and mycelia of the isolates. The internally transcribed spacer region (ITS) and ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) was amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The RLFP analysis was carried out on the regions amplified by PCR from fruiting bodies and the mycelia was established by looking at DNA fragment band sizes and patterns. Banding patterns and fragment sizes of DNA obtained from mycelia and their corresponding fruiting bodies were identical and characteristic for the species. Using this technique, it was possible to sort out a case of mistaken identity of Oudemansiella fruiting bodies, which were interchanged with another mushroom specimen during packing. The method is fast, accurate, and could be used for routine screening of edible mushrooms of Tanzania for taxonomical purposes. For the latter purpose, it is required that the RFLP database of taxonomically known species is in place. Tanzanian Journal of Science Vol. 28(1) 2002: 115-12