Understanding the influence of applying plant extracts and microorganism culture filtrates against barley leaf rust disease

Rust fungi are devastating plant pathogens, and several Puccinia species have exerting substantial financial impacts on global barley cultivation. Fungicides are used on a large scale as an effective method for combating phytopathogenic fungi. The negative environmental impacts of fungicides are steadily escalating on a daily basis. Consequently, researchers are currently exploring alternative approaches to mitigate the use of fungicides, such as the utilization of plant extracts. This method has proven effective due to its incorporation of natural antifungal substances. Among the nine natural elicitors that were tested, the application of plant extracts on barley seedlings resulted in an increase in the incubation and latent periods of Puccinia hordei. These periods are integral components of partial and induced resistance, effectively mitigating the incidence of barley leaf rust disease by over 70% on mature plants. Similarly, the biochemical analyses demonstrated a notable augmentation in all the tested treatments’ overall phenolics and oxidative enzyme activities (peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (SCoT) test serves as a viable approach for assessing the impact of plant extracts and microorganisms on barley plants. The results obtained from this study indicate that the detection of DNA polymorphism through SCoT analysis holds a significant potential powerful tool to evaluate genetic changes compared with untreated plants although some of them tested displayed high similarities at the morphological reaction

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18–49, 50–69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Ultrastructure and histopathological alteration in the ovaries of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) induced by the solar radiation

The ultrastructure and histopathological changes in the ovarioles were tested in normal adult females and in those developed from solar energy treated pupae (53 °C for 15 min) of Callosobruchus maculatus. The telotrophic ovarioles of C. maculatus contain germarium region followed by vitellarium region which constitutes the vitellarium. The germarium houses trophocytes and the vitellarium consists of ovarian follicles. At the germarium region of the ovariole, the trophocyte or nurse cell nucleus contains uniformly spaced clumps of heterochromatin. The cytoplasm contains numerous free ribosomes and mitochondria. At the vitellarium region, follicular epithelial cells form a layer around the oocyte, each cell contains a large oval nucleus with abundant heterochromatin, and the cytoplasm contains mitochondria, free ribosomes and dark spherical globules. Also the vitellarium includes the previtellogenic oocyte which is the most anterior one and two last vitellogenic oocytes at the posterior end as the yolk was deposited. Oocyte microvilli are interdigitated with those of the follicle cells. The ooplasm consists primarily of electron-dense yolk bodies and lipid droplets. These phases could be identified in the ovarioles of normal females and to a less extent in those of females developed from the treated pupae. In the ovarian follicles of the treated generation, degeneration of the cell components of trophocytes, follicular epithelium and oocytes were the most obvious signs of damage. Also, lacking of yolk bodies and vacuolation in the border of the ooplasm were observed. The damage was more pronounced in the ovarioles of (F.) progeny of the treated generation

On the use of multivariate analysis and land evaluation for potential agricultural development of the northwestern coast of Egypt

The development of the agricultural sector is considered the backbone of sustainable development in Egypt. While the developing countries of the world face many challenges regarding food security due to rapid population growth and limited agricultural resources, this study aimed to assess the soils of Sidi Barrani and Salloum using multivariate analysis to determine the land capability and crop suitability for potential alternative crop uses, based on using principal component analysis (PCA), agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis (AHC) and the Almagra model of MicroLEIS. In total, 24 soil profiles were dug, to represent the geomorphic units of the study area, and the soil physicochemical parameters were analyzed in laboratory. The land capability assessment was classified into five significant classes (C1 to C5) based on AHC and PCA analyses. The class C1 represents the highest capable class while C5 is assigned to lowest class. The results indicated that about 7% of the total area was classified as highly capable land (C1), which is area characterized by high concentrations of macronutrients (N, P, K) and low soil salinity value. However, about 52% of the total area was assigned to moderately high class (C2), and 29% was allocated in moderate class (C3), whilst the remaining area (12%) was classified as the low (C4) and not capable (C5) classes, due to soil limitations such as shallow soil depth, high salinity, and increased erosion susceptibility. Moreover, the results of the Almagra soil suitability model for ten crops were described into four suitability classes, while about 37% of the study area was allocated in the highly suitable class (S2) for wheat, olive, alfalfa, sugar beet and fig. Furthermore, 13% of the area was categorized as highly suitable soil (S2) for citrus and peach. On the other hand, about 50% of the total area was assigned to the marginal class (S4) for most of the selected crops. Hence, the use of multivariate analysis, mapping land capability and modeling the soil suitability for diverse crops help the decision makers with regard to potential agricultural development. © 2020 by the authors