Detection of Lassa Virus, Mali

To determine whether Lassa virus was circulating in southern Mali, we tested samples from small mammals from 3 villages, including Soromba, where in 2009 a British citizen probably contracted a lethal Lassa virus infection. We report the isolation and genetic characterization of Lassa virus from an area previously unknown for Lassa fever

Annotated checklist of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of Mali

Fifty-three species of Cerambycidae were collected in Mali between 2014 and 2020 as by-catches within NIH and IVCC projects for malaria vector ecology and control, 42 of them are new records for the country. An updated list of 89 species of cerambycid beetles of Mali is presented. Two species, Niphotragulus occidentalis Breuning, 1977 and Sophronica sudanica Breuning, 1962, are so far only known from Mali.We are grateful to the late Prof. Dr. Vasiliy D. Kravchenko (Tel Aviv University, Israel, USTTB Bamako, Mali) for his dedicated entomological work in Mali: operating trap-ping systems, training local entomologists, and taking care of the collected material in harsh conditions.We are thankful to the University of Sciences, Techniques, and Technologies of Bamako, which allowed us to use their field station near Ouronina, the numerous village councils that approved our activities, and the citizens of the surrounding vil-lages that kindly tolerated our activities in their land. We thank Karl Adlbauer for the species identification and valuable comments

Data from: Chromosomal inversions and ecotypic differentiation in Anopheles gambiae: the perspective from whole-genome sequencing

The molecular mechanisms and genetic architecture that facilitate adaptive radiation of lineages remain elusive. Polymorphic chromosomal inversions, due to their recombination-reducing effect, are proposed instruments of ecotypic differentiation. Here we study an ecologically diversifying lineage of An. gambiae, known as the Bamako chromosomal form based on its unique complement of three chromosomal inversions, to explore the impact of these inversions on ecotypic differentiation. We used pooled and individual genome sequencing of Bamako, typical (non-Bamako) An. gambiae, and the sister species An. coluzzii to investigate evolutionary relationships and genome-wide patterns of nucleotide diversity and differentiation among lineages. Despite extensive shared polymorphism and limited differentiation from the other taxa, Bamako clusters apart from the other taxa, and forms a maximally supported clade in neighbor-joining trees based on whole genome data (including inversions) or solely on collinear regions. Nevertheless, FST outlier analysis reveals that the majority of differentiated regions between Bamako and typical An. gambiae are located inside chromosomal inversions, consistent with their role in the ecological isolation of Bamako. Exceptionally differentiated genomic regions were enriched for genes implicated in nervous system development and signaling. Candidate genes associated with a selective sweep unique to Bamako contain substitutions not observed in sympatric samples of the other taxa, and several insecticide resistance gene alleles shared between Bamako and other taxa segregate at sharply different frequencies in these samples. Bamako represents a useful window into the initial stages of ecological and genomic differentiation from sympatric populations in this important group of malaria vectors