scholarly journals An African origin for Mycobacterium bovis

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Loiseau ◽  
Fabrizio Menardo ◽  
Abraham Aseffa ◽  
Elena Hailu ◽  
Balako Gumi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and objectives Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae are two of the most important agents of tuberculosis in livestock and the most important causes of zoonotic tuberculosis in humans. However, little is known about the global population structure, phylogeography and evolutionary history of these pathogens. Methodology We compiled a global collection of 3364 whole-genome sequences from M.bovis and M.caprae originating from 35 countries and inferred their phylogenetic relationships, geographic origins and age. Results Our results resolved the phylogenetic relationship among the four previously defined clonal complexes of M.bovis, and another eight newly described here. Our phylogeographic analysis showed that M.bovis likely originated in East Africa. While some groups remained restricted to East and West Africa, others have subsequently dispersed to different parts of the world. Conclusions and implications Our results allow a better understanding of the global population structure of M.bovis and its evolutionary history. This knowledge can be used to define better molecular markers for epidemiological investigations of M.bovis in settings where whole-genome sequencing cannot easily be implemented. Lay summary During the last few years, analyses of large globally representative collections of whole-genome sequences (WGS) from the human-adapted Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) lineages have enhanced our understanding of the global population structure, phylogeography and evolutionary history of these pathogens. In contrast, little corresponding data exists for M. bovis, the most important agent of tuberculosis in livestock. Using whole-genome sequences of globally distributed M. bovis isolates, we inferred the genetic relationships among different M. bovis genotypes distributed around the world. The most likely origin of M. bovis is East Africa according to our inferences. While some M. bovis groups remained restricted to East and West Africa, others have subsequently dispersed to different parts of the world driven by cattle movements.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Loiseau ◽  
Fabrizio Menardo ◽  
Abraham Aseffa ◽  
Elena Hailu ◽  
Balako Gumi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground and objectivesMycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae are two of the most important agents of tuberculosis (TB) in livestock and the most important causes of zoonotic TB in humans. However, little is known about the global population structure, phylogeography and evolutionary history of these pathogens.MethodologyWe compiled a global collection of 3364 whole-genome sequences from M. bovis and M. caprae originating from 35 countries and inferred their phylogenetic relationships, geographic origins and age.ResultsOur results resolved the phylogenetic relationship among the four previously defined clonal complexes of M. bovis, and another eight newly described here. Our phylogeographic analysis showed that M. bovis likely originated in East Africa. While some groups remained restricted to East- and West Africa, others have subsequently dispersed to different parts of the world.Conclusions and implicationsOur results allow a better understanding of the global population structure of M. bovis and its evolutionary history. This knowledge can be used to define better molecular markers for epidemiological investigations of M. bovis in settings where whole genome sequencing cannot easily be implemented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chung The ◽  
Christine Boinett ◽  
Duy Pham Thanh ◽  
Claire Jenkins ◽  
Francois-Xavier Weill ◽  
...  

Abstract Shigella sonnei increasingly dominates the international epidemiological landscape of shigellosis. Treatment options for S. sonnei are dwindling due to resistance to several key antimicrobials, including the fluoroquinolones. Here we analyse nearly 400 S. sonnei whole genome sequences from both endemic and non-endemic regions to delineate the evolutionary history of the recently emergent fluoroquinolone-resistant S. sonnei. We reaffirm that extant resistant organisms belong to a single clonal expansion event. Our results indicate that sequential accumulation of defining mutations (gyrA-S83L, parC-S80I, and gyrA-D87G) led to the emergence of the fluoroquinolone-resistant S. sonnei population around 2007 in South Asia. This clone was then transmitted globally, resulting in establishments in Southeast Asia and Europe. Mutation analysis suggests that the clone became dominant through enhanced adaptation to oxidative stress. Experimental evolution reveals that under fluoroquinolone exposure in vitro, resistant S. sonnei develops further intolerance to the antimicrobial while the susceptible counterpart fails to attain complete resistance.


Author(s):  
Brian Stanley

This book charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. The book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today—one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia. The book sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. The book provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe. It demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1585
Author(s):  
Ana C. Reis ◽  
Liliana C. M. Salvador ◽  
Suelee Robbe-Austerman ◽  
Rogério Tenreiro ◽  
Ana Botelho ◽  
...  

Classical molecular analyses of Mycobacterium bovis based on spoligotyping and Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR) brought the first insights into the epidemiology of animal tuberculosis (TB) in Portugal, showing high genotypic diversity of circulating strains that mostly cluster within the European 2 clonal complex. Previous surveillance provided valuable information on the prevalence and spatial occurrence of TB and highlighted prevalent genotypes in areas where livestock and wild ungulates are sympatric. However, links at the wildlife–livestock interfaces were established mainly via classical genotype associations. Here, we apply whole genome sequencing (WGS) to cattle, red deer and wild boar isolates to reconstruct the M. bovis population structure in a multi-host, multi-region disease system and to explore links at a fine genomic scale between M. bovis from wildlife hosts and cattle. Whole genome sequences of 44 representative M. bovis isolates, obtained between 2003 and 2015 from three TB hotspots, were compared through single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variant calling analyses. Consistent with previous results combining classical genotyping with Bayesian population admixture modelling, SNP-based phylogenies support the branching of this M. bovis population into five genetic clades, three with apparent geographic specificities, as well as the establishment of an SNP catalogue specific to each clade, which may be explored in the future as phylogenetic markers. The core genome alignment of SNPs was integrated within a spatiotemporal metadata framework to further structure this M. bovis population by host species and TB hotspots, providing a baseline for network analyses in different epidemiological and disease control contexts. WGS of M. bovis isolates from Portugal is reported for the first time in this pilot study, refining the spatiotemporal context of TB at the wildlife–livestock interface and providing further support to the key role of red deer and wild boar on disease maintenance. The SNP diversity observed within this dataset supports the natural circulation of M. bovis for a long time period, as well as multiple introduction events of the pathogen in this Iberian multi-host system.


Author(s):  
Ajay Kumar ◽  

Access to the internet is fast becoming a basic right given the plethora of information available on the net these days. In the current scenario, the issue of internet shutdown has become an important concern in India. Internet shutdown affects people socially, psychologically and economically. On one hand, many democratic countries of the world are discussing about digital freedom and human rights, while on the other hand, some countries including India are continuously practicing Internet shutdowns in different parts of their countries. India has become the top country of the world in terms of the numbers of Internet shutdowns. The Internet has become such a prominent source of information for all of us that when Internet connectivity is suspended, many people are affected as they depend on the Internet services for various purposes. Internet shutdown is not only harmful to democracy and governance but also to the economy of the country. Internet shutdowns are direct violations of digital freedom and human rights. The main objective of this paper is to argue that access to internet is a basic right and highlight the problem of Internet shutdown in India and its adverse impact on the lives of Indians. In addition, this paper attempts to highlight a brief history of Internet shutdowns in India. The paper shows how frequent clampdowns on internet affects the economy, as has been the case of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir thereby highlighting the case for internet freedom for the survival of the economy especially in Digital India.


2019 ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Michael A. Gomez

This chapter discusses the consistent omission of early and medieval Africa in world and imperial histories. West Africa is certainly left out of the narrative of early human endeavor, and only tends to be mentioned, with brevity, in conjunction with European imperialism. Nevertheless, substantial archaeological work has been underway in West Africa for decades, particularly in the middle Niger valley. For it was during the period of the Shang, Chou, Shin, Han, and Tang dynasties of China, the Vedic period in India, and the Mayans in central America, that another urban-based civilization flourished in West Africa, in the Middle Niger region. The chapter then considers the history of civilization in the Middle Niger, which is a study of the multiple ways in which communities continually adjust to and engage with one of the more “variable and unpredictable” environments in the world. Indeed, the story of the Middle Niger connects directly with the celestial preoccupations of big history in that much of its climatic variability is explained by slight alterations in solar radiation, produced in turn by the intricacies of the sun's cyclical patterns.


2019 ◽  
pp. 196-206
Author(s):  
Kimberley J. Hockings ◽  
Robin I.M. Dunbar

Humans and alcohol have shared a very long history. In this final chapter, we highlight some of the key findings that emerge from the chapters in this book, in particular the evolutionary history of our adaptation to alcohol consumption and the social role that alcohol consumption plays, and has played, in human societies across the world. This raises a major contradiction in the literature, namely the fact that, despite this long history, the medical profession typically views alcohol as destructive. We draw attention to several avenues that would repay future research and how humans’ relationship with alcohol stands to change and evolve.


2020 ◽  
pp. 20200133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Molteni

The history of the last 50 years (1970–2020) of technological changes and progresses for equipment and procedures in dental and maxillofacial radiology is related from the insider perspective of an industrial physicist and technologist who has been instrumental at innovating and developing medical equipment in different parts of the world. The onset and improvement of all major categories of dental and maxillofacial radiographic equipment is presented, from the standpoint of their practical acceptance and impact among common dentists and maxillofacial radiologists: X-ray sources and detectors for intraoral radiography, and panoramic systems, both film-based and digital (including photo-stimulated phosphor plates); and cone beam CT.


BMC Genetics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Beynon ◽  
Gancho T. Slavov ◽  
Marta Farré ◽  
Bolormaa Sunduimijid ◽  
Kate Waddams ◽  
...  

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