Zika vector competence data reveals risks of outbreaks: the contribution of the European ZIKAlliance project

First identified in 1947, Zika virus took roughly 70 years to cause a pandemic unusually associated with virus-induced brain damage in newborns. Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, and secondarily, Aedes albopictus, both colonizing a large strip encompassing tropical and temperate regions. As part of the international project ZIKAlliance initiated in 2016, 50 mosquito populations from six species collected in 12 countries were experimentally infected with different Zika viruses. Here, we show that Ae. aegypti is mainly responsible for Zika virus transmission having the highest susceptibility to viral infections. Other species play a secondary role in transmission while Culex mosquitoes are largely non-susceptible. Zika strain is expected to significantly modulate transmission efficiency with African strains being more likely to cause an outbreak. As the distribution of Ae. aegypti will doubtless expand with climate change and without new marketed vaccines, all the ingredients are in place to relive a new pandemic of Zika.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Zika vector competence data reveals risks of outbreaks: the contribution of the European ZIKAlliance project

First identified in 1947, Zika virus took roughly 70 years to cause a pandemic unusually associated with virus-induced brain damage in newborns. Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, and secondarily, Aedes albopictus, both colonizing a large strip encompassing tropical and temperate regions. As part of the international project ZIKAlliance initiated in 2016, 50 mosquito populations from six species collected in 12 countries were experimentally infected with different Zika viruses. Here, we show that Ae. aegypti is mainly responsible for Zika virus transmission having the highest susceptibility to viral infections. Other species play a secondary role in transmission while Culex mosquitoes are largely non-susceptible. Zika strain is expected to significantly modulate transmission efficiency with African strains being more likely to cause an outbreak. As the distribution of Ae. aegypti will doubtless expand with climate change and without new marketed vaccines, all the ingredients are in place to relive a new pandemic of Zika

Azospirillum Genomes Reveal Transition of Bacteria from Aquatic to Terrestrial Environments

Fossil records indicate that life appeared in marine environments ∼3.5 billion years ago (Gyr) and transitioned to terrestrial ecosystems nearly 2.5 Gyr. Sequence analysis suggests that “hydrobacteria” and “terrabacteria” might have diverged as early as 3 Gyr. Bacteria of the genus Azospirillum are associated with roots of terrestrial plants; however, virtually all their close relatives are aquatic. We obtained genome sequences of two Azospirillum species and analyzed their gene origins. While most Azospirillum house-keeping genes have orthologs in its close aquatic relatives, this lineage has obtained nearly half of its genome from terrestrial organisms. The majority of genes encoding functions critical for association with plants are among horizontally transferred genes. Our results show that transition of some aquatic bacteria to terrestrial habitats occurred much later than the suggested initial divergence of hydro- and terrabacterial clades. The birth of the genus Azospirillum approximately coincided with the emergence of vascular plants on land

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

Complete genome sequences of three Leptospira mayottensis strains from Tenrecs that are endemic in the Malagasy region

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by Leptospira, a diversified genus containing more than 10 pathogenic species. Tenrecs are small terrestrial mammals endemic in the Malagasy region and are known to be reservoirs of the recently described species Leptospira mayottensis. We report the complete genome sequences of three L. mayottensis strains isolated from two tenrec species

Promotion de croissance du riz inoculé par une bactérie fixatrice d'azote, Burkholderia vietnamiensis, isolée d'un sol sulfaté acide du Viêt-nam

Des essais d'inoculation du riz par une souche bactérienne fixatrice d'azote, Burkholderia vietnamiensis TVV75, ont été menés en pots sur un sol sulfaté acide du Viêt-nam, en conditions extérieures. L'effet de cette bactérie a été testé à 3 niveaux d'azote : 0, 45 et 90 U. La souche utilisée avait été au préalable isolée parmi les bactéries fixatrices d'azote les plus abondantes de la rhizosphère du riz cultivé sur ce même sol, et sélectionnée pour son activité réductrice d'acétylène et son activité de promotion de croissance sur jeune plante. Dans cet essai, l'azote était bien le facteur limitant, comme le montre clairement la réponse de la culture du riz à la fertilisation azotée. Dans ces conditions, l'inoculation bactérienne a entraîné des augmentations significatives du tallage (12%) et de la hauteur des plantules (8%) du peuplement herbacé en pépinière, et un accroissement significatif de la production de matières sèches racinaires et aériennes tout au long de la culture. Cette augmentation de la biomasse végétale s'est accompagnée d'une augmentation du rendement final de 20% à la récolte, expliquée par un effet de l'inoculation sur toutes les composantes du rendement. Ces résultats ouvrent la voie à des applications agronomiques très prometteuses.Growth promotion of rice after inoculation with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria Burkholderia vietnamiensis isolated from an acid-sulfate soil in Vietnam. Inoculation of rice with TVV75, an N2-fixing strain of Burkholderia vietnamiensis, was conducted in a Vietnamese acid-sulfate soil in pot trials. The effect of this bacterial strain was tested for 3 nitrogen fertilizer rates, 0, 45 and 90 U under outdoor conditions. The inoculated strain has been isolated as a member of the dominant N2-fixing microflora in the rhizosphere of rice growing on the above-mentioned soil. It was selected because it exhibited a high acetylene reduction rate and high growth promotion on young plants. In the present experiment, nitrogen availability was the limiting factor for the growth of rice, which is clearly shown by the response of the plant to nitrogen fertilizer application in control pots. Under these conditions, bacterial inoculation resulted in significant increases in tiller number (12%) and plant height (8%) in nursery beds, and significant increases were also observed in both shoot and root dry weights, throughout the growth cycle, leading to a higher final yield (20%). These results are promising for further applications

Changes in bacterial diversity, composition and interactions during the development of the seabird tick Ornithodoros maritimus (Argasidae)

Characterising within-host microbial interactions is essential to understand the drivers that shape these interactions and their consequences for host ecology and evolution. Here, we examined the bacterial microbiota hosted by the seabird soft tickOrnithodoros maritimus(Argasidae) in order to uncover bacterial interactions within ticks and how these interactions change over tick development. Bacterial communities were characterised through next-generation sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene. Bacterial co-occurrence and co-exclusion were determined by analysing networks generated from the metagenomic data obtained at each life stage. Overall, the microbiota ofO. maritimuswas dominated by four bacterial genera, namelyCoxiella,Rickettsia,BrevibacteriumandArsenophonus, representing almost 60% of the reads. Bacterial diversity increased over tick development, and adult male ticks showed higher diversity than did adult female ticks. Bacterial networks showed that co-occurrence was more frequent than co-exclusion and highlighted substantial shifts across tick life stages; interaction networks changed from one stage to the next with a steady increase in the number of interactions through development. Although many bacterial interactions appeared unstable across life stages, some were maintained throughout development and were found in both sexes, such asCoxiellaandArsenophonus.Our data support the existence of a few stable interactions inO. maritimusticks, on top of which bacterial taxa accumulate from hosts and/or the environment during development. We propose that stable associations delineate core microbial interactions, which are likely to be responsible for key biological functions