Genome and proteome analysis of phage E3 infecting the soil-borne actinomyceteRhodococcus equi: Rhodococcusbacteriophage E3

We report on the characterization and genomic analysis of bacteriophage E3 isolated from soil and propagating in Rhodococcus equi strains. Phage E3 has a circular genome of 142?563?bp and is the first Myoviridae reported for the genus Rhodococcus and for a non-mycobacterial actinomycete. Phylogenetic analyses placed E3 in a distinct Myoviridae clade together with Mycobacterium phages Bxz1 and Myrna. The highly syntenic genomes of this myoviridal group comprise vertically evolving core phage modules flanked by hyperplastic regions specific to each phage and rich in horizontally acquired DNA. The hyperplastic regions contain numerous tRNA genes in the mycobacteriophages which are absent in E3, possibly reflecting bacterial host-specific translation-related phage fitness constraints associated with rate-limiting tRNAs. A structural proteome analysis identified 28 E3 polypeptides, including 15 not previously known to be virion-associated proteins. The E3 genome and comparative analysis provide insight into short-term genome evolution and adaptive plasticity in tailed phages from the environmental microbiome

Bacterial etiology of sexually transmitted infections at a STI clinic in Ghana; use of multiplex real time PCR

Background: Most sexually transmitted infection (STI) management efforts focus on the syndromic approach to diagnose and treat patients. However, most women with STIs have been shown to be entirely asymptomatic, or if symptoms exist, are often missed when either clinical or conventional bacteriologic diagnostic tools are employed.Methods: We assessed the performance of a multiplex real time PCR assay to describe other potential pathogens that could be missed by conventional bacteriological techniques in 200 women attending a routine STI clinic in Kumasi, Ghana.Results: Although a total 78.00% of the women were asymptomatic, 77.1% of them tested positive for at least one bacterial STI pathogen. Mycoplasma genitalium was the most commonly detectable pathogen present in 67.5% of all women. Of those testing positive, 25.0% had single infections, while 38.0% and 19.5% had double and triple infections respectively. Altogether, 86.54% and 90.91% of the symptomatic and asymptomatic women respectively tested positive for at least one pathogen (p<0.05). There were no significant associations (p<0.05) between the clinical manifestations of the symptomatic women and the pathogens detected in their samples.Conclusions: Our study confirmed the importance of complementing the syndromic approach to STI management with pathogen detection and most importantly recognise that STIs in women are asymptomatic and regular empirical testing even for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients is critical for complete clinical treatment.Funding: EOD (Ellis Owusu-Dabo Research working group, KCCR)Keywords: Etiology, Syndromic, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Multiplex real time PC

The H3ABioNet helpdesk: an online bioinformatics resource, enhancing Africa’s capacity for genomics research

Abstract Background Currently, formal mechanisms for bioinformatics support are limited. The H3Africa Bioinformatics Network has implemented a public and freely available Helpdesk (HD), which provides generic bioinformatics support to researchers through an online ticketing platform. The following article reports on the H3ABioNet HD (H3A-HD)‘s development, outlining its design, management, usage and evaluation framework, as well as the lessons learned through implementation. Results The H3A-HD evaluated using automatically generated usage logs, user feedback and qualitative ticket evaluation. Evaluation revealed that communication methods, ticketing strategies and the technical platforms used are some of the primary factors which may influence the effectivity of HD. Conclusion To continuously improve the H3A-HD services, the resource should be regularly monitored and evaluated. The H3A-HD design, implementation and evaluation framework could be easily adapted for use by interested stakeholders within the Bioinformatics community and beyond

Designing a course model for distance-based online bioinformatics training in Africa: the H3ABioNet experience

Africa is not unique in its need for basic bioinformatics training for individuals from a diverse range of academic backgrounds. However, particular logistical challenges in Africa, most notably access to bioinformatics expertise and internet stability, must be addressed in order to meet this need on the continent. H3ABioNet (www.h3abionet.org), the Pan African Bioinformatics Network for H3Africa, has therefore developed an innovative, free-of-charge "Introduction to Bioinformatics" course, taking these challenges into account as part of its educational efforts to provide on-site training and develop local expertise inside its network. A multiple-delivery±mode learning model was selected for this 3-month course in order to increase access to (mostly) African, expert bioinformatics trainers. The content of the course was developed to include a range of fundamental bioinformatics topics at the introductory level. For the first iteration of the course (2016), classrooms with a total of 364 enrolled participants were hosted at 20 institutions across 10 African countries. To ensure that classroom success did not depend on stable internet, trainers pre-recorded their lectures, and classrooms downloaded and watched these locally during biweekly contact sessions. The trainers were available via video conferencing to take questions during contact sessions, as well as via online "question and discussion" forums outside of contact session time. This learning model, developed for a resource-limited setting, could easily be adapted to other settings.IS

Virtual classroom using the Mconf web conferencing platform.

<p>Classrooms connected to the trainer and to other classrooms via the Mconf open-source web conferencing platform (<a href="http://mconf.org/" target="_blank">http://mconf.org</a>; in use here is the South African instance of Mconf <a href="https://mconf.sanren.ac.za/" target="_blank">https://mconf.sanren.ac.za/</a>, hosted by SANREN <a href="http://www.sanren.ac.za/south-african-nren/" target="_blank">http://www.sanren.ac.za/south-african-nren/</a>). Classrooms either activated their microphones or entered text into a chat box to ask questions to the trainer. Trainers activated their webcams while answering questions. Trainers were able to upload their session resources in the central panel of the Mconf interface should they have wanted to explain a concept on a particular lecture slide, for example. Note: Consent to publish this image was obtained from the trainer shown in the figure. Abbreviation: SANREN, South African National Research Network.</p

Location of classroom sites for 2016 iteration of the IBT course.

<p>Classrooms (20 classrooms across 10 African countries accommodating 364 participants in total) met each other virtually to widen the scope and improve the depth of biweekly contact sessions. Abbreviation: IBT, Introduction to Bioinformatics.</p

Screenshots of Vula site for IBT_2016 course.

<p>(A) Landing page of course site showing all tools. (B) Forums tool specifically showing the number of people that read the response to a particular question. In this example, at the time that the screenshot was obtained, 14 people had read the question, and 12 people had read the answer. Please note: Consent to publish this screenshot was obtained from participants of the relevant discussion. Abbreviation: IBT, Introduction to Bioinformatics.</p

Pre-recorded lectures.

<p>Screenshot of a pre-recorded lecture with webcam activated. Note: Consent to publish this image was obtained from the individual in the figure.</p