Challenges of Conservation and Sustainable Management of African Rosewood (<em>Pterocarpus</em><em>erinaceus</em>) in West Africa

Pterocarpus erinaceus is an endemic and threatened plant species in arid and semiarid zones of West Africa and is highly exploited for timber, animal feeding, and various medicinal uses. The species is currently native to the Guinean forest-savannah mosaic ecoregion and reported from Senegal to Cameroon. The values of the main characteristics of the P. erinaceus forest stands (density, average diameter, average height and average stem height) vary significantly (P < 10−3) from the Guinean zone to the Sahelian zone. It has high technological performance and can be classified as heavy and very hard wood with a density of the order of 0.80 ± 0.07 g/cm3 and an average hardness of 12 ± 3.7 g/cm3. The species is the subject of large-scale international traffic between West Africa and Asia, which is by far the greatest threat to the species. The various uses induce repeated mutilation and increase pressures on the species resulting in a significant reduction in its natural populations. In response to this situation, measures are proposed, including large-scale plant production strategies, the definition of minimum felling diameters, policy measures, etc., to meet the restoration needs of natural stands of P. erinaceus and the fight against climate change

Micropropagation d’une plante d’interet nutritionnel et pharmacologique: Moringa oleifera lam.

Pour établir Moringa oleifera in vitro, des graines décortiquées ont été utilisées et la germination, dans les conditions de culture avec une alternance de lumière et d’obscurité, se déroule en deux temps aboutissant à un taux maximal. Le résultat original de la croissance des plantules obtenues après germination est la formation spontanée de rejets sans phytohormones, augmentant le matériel pour la micropropagation. Cette étude confirme bien que le milieu de croissance adéquat pour le Moringa oleifera écotype togolais est celui de Murashige et Skoog dilué de moitié (MS/2). Cependant, on peut noter un effet négatif au fur et à mesure des subcultures. Les résultats montrent aussi que la croissance est harmonieuse jusqu’à la génération 3, mais les potentialités des vitroplants s'épuisent ensuite et on remarque une dégradation des paramètres de croissance de la génération 3 à la génération 5. Cet effet est plus remarquable sur l'induction racinaire.Mots clés: Moringa oleifera, germination in vitro, micropropagation, milieu MS/2, subculturesEnglish Title: Micropropagation of nutritional and pharmacological interest plant: Moringa oleifera lam.English AbstractTo establish Moringa oleifera in vitro, peeled seeds were used and germination, under the conditions of culture with an alternation of light and darkness, proceeds in two times leading to maximum rate. The original result of the growth of the seedlings obtained after germination is the spontaneous formation of rejections without phytohormones, increasing the material for the micropropagation. This study confirms well that the adequate medium of growth for togolese ecotype Moringa oleifera is Murashige and Skoog medium diluted half (MS/2). However, one can progressively note a negative effect of subcultures. The results show also the growth is harmonious until generation 3, but potentialities of vitroplants become exhausted then and one notices a degradation of growth parameters from generation 3 to generation 5. This effect is most remarkable on racinary induction.Keywords: Moringa oleifera, in vitro germination, micropropagation, MS/2 medium, subculture

Describing auxin solid state intermolecular interactions using contact descriptors, shape property and molecular fingerprint: comparison of pure auxin crystal and auxin-TIR1 co-crystal

This work reports for the first time, the analysis of intermolecular interactions in crystal structures of auxin (Indole-3-acetic acid) crystallized as pure sample (Aux-A) or co-crystallized with transport inhibitor response 1 (Aux-B). Using crystal packing of pure auxin and a cluster of residues in a radius of 6 Å around this ligand in the transport inhibitor response 1 binding domain, various properties were calculated and mapped on the Hirshfeld surface (HS). The HSs of the two molecules are characterized by close parameters of volume, area, globularity, and asphericity revealing the efficiency of the considered cluster. The HS mapped over descriptors like de, di and dnorm showed red spots corresponding to hydrogen bonds contacts. In addition to the shape index and curvedness descriptors, the results highlight weak interactions stabilizing the auxin structures. The analyses of electrostatic potential, electron density, and deformation density maps confirm the slightly change in the electron donor and acceptor groups localization. Furthermore, the molecular fingerprint analyses revealed a notable discrepancy in the shape and percentage value of the various contacts. Decomposition of the fingerprint shows that the contributions of important contacts (H···H, H···O, and O···O) are higher in Aux-B than in Aux-A. Finally, the quantitative approach by the determination of the molecular interaction energies of the two structures in their respective crystallographic environment revealed that Aux-A is slightly more stabilized than Aux-B

Togo National Herbarium database

This article describes the herbarium database of the University of Lomé. The database provides a good representation of the current knowledge of the flora of Togo. The herbarium of University of Lomé, known also as Herbarium togoense is the national herbarium and is registered in Index Herbariorum with the abbreviation TOGO. It contains 15,000 specimens of vascular plants coming mostly from all Togo's ecofloristic regions. Less than one percent of the specimens are from neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. Collecting site details are specified in more that 97% of the sheet labels, but only about 50% contain geographic coordinates. Besides being a research resource, the herbarium constitutes an educational collection. The dataset described in this paper is registered with GBIF and accessible at https://www.gbif.org/dataset/b05dd467-aaf8-4c67-843c-27f049057b78. It was developed with the RIHA software (Réseau Informatique des Herbiers d'Afrique). The RIHA system (Chevillotte and Florence 2006, Radji et al. 2009) allows the capture of label data and associated information such as synonyms, vernacular names, taxonomic hierarchy and references

Togo National Herbarium database

This article describes the herbarium database of the University of Lomé. The database provides a good representation of the current knowledge of the flora of Togo. The herbarium of University of Lomé, known also as Herbarium togoense is the national herbarium and is registered in Index Herbariorum with the abbreviation TOGO. It contains 15,000 specimens of vascular plants coming mostly from all Togo's ecofloristic regions. Less than one percent of the specimens are from neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. Collecting site details are specified in more that 97% of the sheet labels, but only about 50% contain geographic coordinates. Besides being a research resource, the herbarium constitutes an educational collection. The dataset described in this paper is registered with GBIF and accessible at https://www.gbif.org/dataset/b05dd467-aaf8-4c67-843c-27f049057b78. It was developed with the RIHA software (Réseau Informatique des Herbiers d'Afrique). The RIHA system (Chevillotte and Florence 2006, Radji et al. 2009) allows the capture of label data and associated information such as synonyms, vernacular names, taxonomic hierarchy and references

Study of Salinity in Market Garden Production on the Togolese Coast

Agriculture accounts for over 40% of Togo's GDP, and employs almost 65% of its working population. Market gardening, one of its sub-sectors, remains an important source of income and food self-sufficiency for rural and peri-urban populations. Among the peri-urban production zones, the coastline, by virtue of its geographical position, is sensitive to the salinisation of water and soil, as well as to sea spray. Salinity has a negative impact on market garden production. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the salinity of water and soil used in market garden production on the Togolese coast. To do this, measurements were taken of the electrical conductivity (EC) and pH of irrigation water and soil sampled in the Ablogamé and Agodéké districts, two production areas on the coastal strip. In each of these areas, water and soil samples were taken at three sites, with three samples per site, giving a total of six sites for analysis. At Ablogamé, the values for irrigation water ranged from 1113.67±3.06 µS/cm, 1971.67±9.24 µS/cm, to 1926.33±6.51 µS/cm and for Agodéké, they ranged from 756.67 ± 1.53, 1016.00 ± 1.00 to 1178.33 ± 0.58 µS/cm. This shows that, according to CIRAD and WHO standards, the water analysed is classified as "salty", with a variability of EC within the same production zone, the exception being one of the Agodeke sites, which has soft water according to WHO standards. The FAO, for its part, classifies all the waters as having slight to moderate restrictions for irrigation. Furthermore, the EC values obtained are moderately and slightly high. In addition, those of the Agodéké sites, located at around 83 to 108 m from the sea, in the erosive zone, are generally lower than those of the Ablogamé sites located in the accumulation zone, at around 288 m to 406 m from the sea. The pH of the water is slightly alkaline. As for the soil, the EC values are below the norms at all the sites studied, thus demonstrating the non-saline nature of the market-garden production areas on the Togolese coastal strip. The soil pH is neutral to slightly alkaline. There is therefore a dynamism in the Togolese coastal aquifers that requires further studies to improve the performance of vegetable production on this coast

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for the threatened African endemic tree species Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir.

To study the genetic diversity and structure of the forest species Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir., seventeen polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers were isolated and characterized, using next-generation sequencing. Three hundred and sixty-five (365) individuals were analyzed within fifteen (15) West African populations. The number of alleles for these loci varied from 4 to 30, and the heterozygosity varied from 0.23 to 0.82. The seventeen (17) primers designed here will allow characterizing the genetic diversity of this threaten species on its natural stands and to better understand the population differentiation mechanisms shaping it