Genetic Structure of Modern Durum Wheat Cultivars and Mediterranean Landraces Matches with Their Agronomic Performance

A collection of 172 durum wheat landraces from 21 Mediterranean countries and 20 modern cultivars were phenotyped in 6 environments for 14 traits including phenology, biomass, yield and yield components. The genetic structure of the collection was ascertained with 44 simple sequence repeat markers that identified 448 alleles, 226 of them with a frequency lower than 5%, and 10 alleles per locus on average. In the modern cultivars all the alleles were fixed in 59% of the markers. Total genetic diversity was HT = 0.7080 and the genetic differentiation value was GST = 0.1730. STRUCTURE software allocated 90.1% of the accessions in five subpopulations, one including all modern cultivars, and the four containing landrace related to their geographic origin: eastern Mediterranean, eastern Balkans and Turkey, western Balkans and Egypt, and western Mediterranean. Mean yield of subpopulations ranged from 2.6 t ha-1 for the western Balkan and Egyptian landraces to 4.0 t ha-1 for modern cultivars, with the remaining three subpopulations showing similar values of 3.1 t ha-1. Modern cultivars had the highest number of grains m-2 and harvest index, and the shortest cycle length. The diversity was lowest in modern cultivars (HT = 0.4835) and highest in landraces from the western Balkans and Egypt (HT = 0.6979). Genetic diversity and AMOVA indicated that variability between subpopulations was much lower (17%) than variability within them (83%), though all subpopulations had similar biomass values in all growth stages. A dendrogram based on simple sequence repeat data matched with the clusters obtained by STRUCTURE, improving this classification for some accessions that have a large admixture. landraces included in the subpopulation from the eastern Balkans and Turkey were separated into two branches in the dendrogram drawn with phenotypic data, suggesting a different origin for the landraces collected in Serbia and Macedonia. The current study shows a reliable relationship between genetic and phenotypic population structures, and the connection of both with the geographic origin of the landraces.The research was funded by the Ministerio de Economía y competitividad project AGL-2006-09226-C02-01, and Dr. Jose Miguel Soriano is funded by Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (http://www.mineco.gob.es/)

Geographic distribution of MERS coronavirus among dromedary camels, Africa

We found serologic evidence for the circulation of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus among dromedary camels in Nigeria, Tunisia, and Ethiopia. Circulation of the virus among dromedaries across broad areas of Africa may indicate that this disease is currently underdiagnosed in humans outside the Arabian Peninsula

Genetic Improvement Trends in Agronomic Performances and End-Use Quality Characteristics Among Hard Red Winter Wheat Cultivars in Nebraska

Evaluation of wheat cultivars from different eras allows breeders to determine changes in agronomic and end-use quality characteristics associated with grain yield and end-use quality improvement over time. The objective of this research was to examine the trends in agronomic and end-use quality characteristics of hard red winter wheat cultivars grown in Nebraska. Thirty historically important and popular hard red winter wheat cultivars introduced or released between 1874 and 2000 were evaluated at Lincoln, Mead, and North Platte, Nebraska in 2002 and 2003. An alpha lattice design with 15 incomplete blocks of two plots and three replications was used at all locations. Agronomic (days to flowering, plant height, spike length, culm length, grain yield and yield components, and grain volume weight) and end-use quality (flour yield, SDS-sedimentation value, flour protein content, and mixograph time and tolerance) traits were measured in each environment. Highly significant differences were observed among environments, genotypes and their interactions for most agronomic and end-use quality characteristics. Unlike modern cultivars, older cultivars were low yielding, and less responsive to favorable environments for grain yield and yield components. Semidwarf cultivars were more stable for plant height than traditional medium to tall cultivars. All cultivars had high grain volume weight since it is part of the grading system and highly selected for in cultivar release. Modern cultivars were less stable than older cultivars for SDS-sedimentation and mixing tolerance. However, the stability of older cultivars was attributed to their having weak mixing tolerance and reduced SDS-sedimentation values. The reduced protein content of modern cultivars was offset by increased functionality, as measured by mixograph and SDS sedimentation. In conclusion, breeders have tailored agronomic and end-use quality traits essential for hard red winter wheat production and marketing in Nebraska

Tick fauna of Malaysian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) in Bangi, Malaysia

Aim: The red jungle fowl is generally considered as one of the endangered Asian wild Galleopheasants due to manmade encroachment of their habitats, coupled with the effect of disease and disease causing organisms like ticks and tickborne infections. This study aimed to determine the tick fauna of the red jungle fowl and their predilection sites based on developmental stages. Materials and Methods: A total of 33 jungle fowls were sampled for this study from Bangi area of Selangor State, Peninsular Malaysian. The birds were captured using a locally made trap made-up of loops and bites. Ticks present on their bodies were detached using fine forceps and identified morphologically under a dissecting microscope. Results: 91% of the jungle fowls were infested with ticks, all of which belongs to the species Haemaphysalis wellingtoni. The ear region appeared to be the most common predilection site (63%) for all the developmental stages in which the larval stages are solely restricted to that region. Nymphal and adult stages were distributed on the comb, wattle, and facial region in addition to the ear region. Conclusion: This study was the first in its kind and showed a high prevalence of tick infestation among jungle fowls. H. wellingtoni was known to be a vector in transmission of many tick-borne pathogens. Therefore, there is the need for further investigation to identify the various pathogens associated with this tick

Do Health Sciences Students Have the Appropriate Knowledge and Attitude to Advance Organ Donation in Ethiopia? Cross-Sectional Study

Amare Desalegn Wolide,1 Kabaye Kumela Goro,2 Fantu Kerga Dibaba,2 Serkadis Debalke,2 Meskerem Seboka,3 Birtukan Edilu Tufa,2 Fanta Gashe Fufa,2 Eshetu Mulisa Bobasa2 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma, 378, Ethiopia; 2Faculty of Health Sciences Jimma University, Jimma 378, Ethiopia; 3Institute of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma 378, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Amare Desalegn WolideJimma University, Jimma 378, EthiopiaTel +251 932445922Email [email protected]: Donated organs and tissues are necessary for transplantation to treat irreparable organ failure. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate health science students’ toward organ donation at Jimma University.Methods: The study was conducted in Jimma University, College of Health Sciences from February 1, 2018 to April 25, 2018, Gregorian calendar. Data was entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. A descriptive and generalized linear model was applied to present the results.Results: The overall knowledge and attitude scores of the students were 3.844 (2.98, 4.712) and 6.3914 (5.93, 6.85) respectively. The results showed that students had good knowledge of and a positive attitude toward organ donation. Male students had a higher mean knowledge score than female students, however, the difference was not significant. Dental medicine and medicine students had a higher mean knowledge score than any other health science students in the faculty. Students showed knowledge difference yearly. A significant number of students 290 (73.4%) and 313 (79.2%) knew the importance of live and cadaveric organ donation to treat permanently failed organs, respectively. Also, about 238 (60.3%) students had the awareness of disease transmission and 358 (90.6%) of them knew the involvement of tissue rejection when inappropriate organ transplantation is done to the recipients. Furthermore, likewise, more than half of the students expressed positive beliefs toward the different questions of organ donation-ethics, religion, and willingness for organ donation.Conclusion: Students showed good knowledge and a positive attitude toward organ donation and this should be translated to the public to increase the rate of organ donations.Keywords: organ donation, knowledge, attitude, Jimma Universit