The AgResults Nigeria Aflasafe TM Challenge Project: 2019 Annual Report

This report documents the key activities that were carried under the AgResults Aflasafe Pilot Project during the 2018/ 2019 maize-growing season on the verification process to trigger premium payments for successfully harvested and aggregated Aflasafe™-treated maize

The Plant Pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Is Genetically Monomorphic and under Strong Selection to Evade Tomato Immunity

Recently, genome sequencing of many isolates of genetically monomorphic bacterial human pathogens has given new insights into pathogen microevolution and phylogeography. Here, we report a genome-based micro-evolutionary study of a bacterial plant pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Only 267 mutations were identified between five sequenced isolates in 3,543,009 nt of analyzed genome sequence, which suggests a recent evolutionary origin of this pathogen. Further analysis with genome-derived markers of 89 world-wide isolates showed that several genotypes exist in North America and in Europe indicating frequent pathogen movement between these world regions. Genome-derived markers and molecular analyses of key pathogen loci important for virulence and motility both suggest ongoing adaptation to the tomato host. A mutational hotspot was found in the type III-secreted effector gene hopM1. These mutations abolish the cell death triggering activity of the full-length protein indicating strong selection for loss of function of this effector, which was previously considered a virulence factor. Two non-synonymous mutations in the flagellin-encoding gene fliC allowed identifying a new microbe associated molecular pattern (MAMP) in a region distinct from the known MAMP flg22. Interestingly, the ancestral allele of this MAMP induces a stronger tomato immune response than the derived alleles. The ancestral allele has largely disappeared from today's Pto populations suggesting that flagellin-triggered immunity limits pathogen fitness even in highly virulent pathogens. An additional non-synonymous mutation was identified in flg22 in South American isolates. Therefore, MAMPs are more variable than expected differing even between otherwise almost identical isolates of the same pathogen strain

Typology of Human Behavioural Traits for Strategic Customer Relations

The paper establishes the link between education and selected human development indicators. Rapid socio-economic development has been observed to depend essentially on the calibre of human capital in a nation. Although Nigeria is one of the most populous nations in Africa, the country is still largely under-developed. This can be attributed partly to the unplanned efforts towards the development of human capital through education and training. Consequently the country has been scored low by the United Nations in terms of its human development indicators such as life expectancy, literacy and economic growth rates. The population growth has continued to expand, even beyond the rate of economic growth, a situation that gave rise to increasing poverty. Furthermore, gender gap in access to education continued to persist in the urban and rural areas, while dropout rates continue to worsen. Recommendation made to redress the situation include that human capital development should be planned and adequately funded in line with the needs of the economy and by applying international standards. Information about the labour market should improve while government policy should favour labour mobility. There should be regular interaction of planners, employers and builders of human capital to facilitate the process of meaningful national development. (Nigerian Journal of Clinical and Counselling Psychology: 2001 7 (1&2): 126-133