Loss and Gain of Gut Bacterial Phylotype Symbionts in Afrotropical Stingless Bee Species (Apidae: Meliponinae)

Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are the most diverse group of corbiculate bees and are important managed and wild pollinators distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. However, little is known about their associated beneficial microbes that play major roles in host nutrition, detoxification, growth, activation of immune responses, and protection against pathogens in their sister groups, honeybees and bumble bees. Here, we provide an initial characterization of the gut bacterial microbiota of eight stingless bee species from sub-Saharan Africa using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our findings revealed that Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the dominant and conserved phyla across the eight stingless bee species. Additionally, we found significant geographical and host intra-species-specific bacterial diversity. Notably, African strains showed significant phylogenetic clustering when compared with strains from other continents, and each stingless bee species has its own microbial composition with its own dominant bacterial genus. Our results suggest host selective mechanisms maintain distinct gut communities among sympatric species and thus constitute an important resource for future studies on bee health management and host-microbe co-evolution and adaptation.

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Feasibility and acceptability of frequent vaginal self-sampling at home by Rwandan women at high risk of urogenital tract infections

Sexually Transmitted Infections ◽

10.1136/sextrans-2020-054816 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. sextrans-2020-054816

Author(s):

Marijn C Verwijs ◽

Stephen Agaba ◽

Marie-Michele Umulisa ◽

Janneke H H M van de Wijgert

Keyword(s):

Group Discussion ◽

Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Randomised Clinical Trial ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Resource Setting ◽

Vaginal Swabs ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Tract Infections ◽

At Home

ObjectivesTo establish temporal links between vaginal microbiota (VMB) data and incident clinical events, frequent longitudinal vaginal sampling is required. Self-collection of swabs at the participant’s home may be useful to avoid overburdening research clinics and participants. One-off vaginal self-sampling for STI or cervical cancer screening programmes has been shown to be feasible and acceptable to women in multiple studies, including in sub-Saharan Africa, but the feasibility and acceptability of frequent longitudinal vaginal sampling in the context of VMB sequencing studies is unknown.MethodsTwelve participants of a randomised clinical trial in Kigali, Rwanda, self-collected vaginal swabs three times a week for a month. We studied feasibility by comparing DNA concentrations, proportions of samples with >1000 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing reads and VMB composition outcomes of self-collected swabs with clinician-collected swabs. We evaluated the acceptability of self-collection using structured face-to-face interviews and a focus group discussion.ResultsThe participants collected vaginal swabs at 131 different time points. One woman stopped self-sampling after one try due to a social harm. All self-sampled swabs generated >1000 rRNA amplicon sequencing reads, and the DNA concentration of self-sampled swabs and clinician-sampled swabs did not differ significantly (Kruskal-Wallis p=0.484). Self-sampled and clinician-sampled swabs generated similar VMB composition data. Participants reported feeling very comfortable during self-sampling (11/12; 91.7%) and that self-sampling had become easier over time (12/12; 100%). They mentioned reduced travel time and travel costs as advantages of self-sampling at home.ConclusionsFrequent longitudinal vaginal sampling at home is feasible and acceptable to participants, even in the context of a low-resource setting, as long as adequate counselling is provided.Trial registration numberNCT02459665.

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Characterization of the Kenyan Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Gut Microbiota: A First Look at Tropical and Sub-Saharan African Bee Associated Microbiomes

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8111721 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (11) ◽

pp. 1721

Author(s):

Yosef Hamba Tola ◽

Jacqueline Wahura Waweru ◽

Gregory D. D. Hurst ◽

Bernard Slippers ◽

Juan C. Paredes

Keyword(s):

Apis Mellifera ◽

Gut Microbiota ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

African Region ◽

16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Host Interaction ◽

Sub Saharan

Gut microbiota plays important roles in many physiological processes of the host including digestion, protection, detoxification, and development of immune responses. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) has emerged as model for gut-microbiota host interaction studies due to its gut microbiota being highly conserved and having a simple composition. A key gap in this model is understanding how the microbiome differs regionally, including sampling from the tropics and in particular from Africa. The African region is important from the perspective of the native diversity of the bees, and differences in landscape and bee management. Here, we characterized the honey bee gut microbiota in sub-Saharan Africa using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. We confirm the presence of the core gut microbiota members and highlight different compositions of these communities across regions. We found that bees from the coastal regions harbor a higher relative abundance and diversity on core members. Additionally, we showed that Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, and Frischella dominate in all locations, and that altitude and humidity affect Gilliamella abundance. In contrast, we found that Lactobacillus was less common compared temperate regions of the world. This study is a first comprehensive characterization of the gut microbiota of honey bees from sub-Saharan Africa and underscores the need to study microbiome diversity in other indigenous bee species and regions.

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Developing learning diaries for action research on healthcare management in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda

Action Research ◽

10.1177/1476750315626780 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 412-434 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Comfort Mshelia ◽

Gillian Lê ◽

Tolib Mirzoev ◽

Samuel Amon ◽

Ambrose Kessy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Health Management ◽

Healthcare Management ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

District Health ◽

The People ◽

Effective Form ◽

Recording Process ◽

Specific Practice ◽

Sub Saharan

Action research (AR) can be an effective form of ‘on the job’ training. However, it is critical that AR cycles can be appropriately recorded in order to contribute to reflection and learning. One form of recording is for coresearchers to keep a diary. We found no previous literature describing the use of diaries in AR in sub-Saharan Africa. We therefore use this paper to reflect on how diaries were used by district health management teams in the PERFORM project. We share five lessons from our experience. First, it is important to foster ownership of the diary by the people who are responsible for filling it in. Second, the purpose of keeping a diary needs to be clear and shared between researchers and practitioners from the very beginning. Third, diaries should be allowed to evolve. Fourth, it is a challenge for busy practitioners to record the reflection and learning processes that they go through. Last, diaries on their own are not sufficient to capture reflection and learning. In conclusion, there is no best way for practitioners to keep a diary; rather the focus should be on ensuring that an AR recording process (whether diary or otherwise) is locally owned and complements the specific practice setting.

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No apparent correlation between honey bee forager gut microbiota and honey production

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.1329 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. e1329 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Melissa A. Horton ◽

Randy Oliver ◽

Irene L. Newton

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Library Size ◽

Honey Production ◽

16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Bee Colony ◽

Bee Colonies ◽

Colony Productivity

One of the best indicators of colony health for the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is its performance in the production of honey. Recent research into the microbial communities naturally populating the bee gut raise the question as to whether there is a correlation between microbial community structure and colony productivity. In this work, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to explore the microbial composition associated with forager bees from honey bee colonies producing large amounts of surplus honey (productive) and compared them to colonies producing less (unproductive). As supported by previous work, the honey bee microbiome was found to be dominated by three major phyla: the Proteobacteria, Bacilli and Actinobacteria, within which we found a total of 23 different bacterial genera, including known “core” honey bee microbiome members. Using discriminant function analysis and correlation-based network analysis, we identified highly abundant members (such asFrischellaandGilliamella) as important in shaping the bacterial community; libraries from colonies with high quantities of theseOrbaceaemembers were also likely to contain fewerBifidobacteriaandLactobacillusspecies (such as Firm-4). However, co-culture assays, using isolates from these major clades, were unable to confirm any antagonistic interaction betweenGilliamellaand honey bee gut bacteria. Our results suggest that honey bee colony productivity is associated with increased bacterial diversity, although this mechanism behind this correlation has yet to be determined. Our results also suggest researchers should not base inferences of bacterial interactions solely on correlations found using sequencing. Instead, we suggest that depth of sequencing and library size can dramatically influencestatistically significantresults from sequence analysis of amplicons and should be cautiously interpreted.

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Health-2000: An Integrated Large-scale Expert System for the Hospital of the Future

Methods of Information in Medicine ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1634702 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 36 (02) ◽

pp. 92-94

Author(s):

S. F. Boyom ◽

D. A. Asoh ◽

C. Asaah ◽

F. Kengne ◽

S. Y. Kwankam

Keyword(s):

Expert System ◽

Large Scale ◽

Health Management ◽

Medical Knowledge ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Equipment Management ◽

Care Environment ◽

The Future ◽

Health Management Information Systems ◽

Sub Saharan

Abstract:Decision making and management are problems which plague health systems in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where there is significant waste of resources. The need goes beyond national health management information systems, to tools required in daily micromanagement of various components of the health system. This paper describes an integrated expert system, Health-2000, an information-oriented tool for acquiring, processing and disseminating medical knowledge, data and decisions in the hospital of the future. It integrates six essential features of the medical care environment: personnel management, patient management, medical diagnosis, laboratory management, propharmacy, and equipment management. Disease conditions covered are the major tropical diseases. An intelligent tutoring feature completes the package. Emphasis is placed on the graphical user interface to facilitate interactions between the user and the system, which is developed for PCs using Pascal, C, Clipper and Prolog.

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Abstract 17318: Cardioprotective Microbes and Restorative Sleep Are Reduced and Blood Pressure During Sleep is Increased When Rats Have Fragmented Sleep

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.142.suppl_3.17318 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

Katherine A Maki ◽

Jennifer J Barb ◽

Ulf G Bronas ◽

Michael W Calik ◽

Stefan Green ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Gut Microbiome ◽

Slow Wave Sleep ◽

Anaerobic Bacteria ◽

Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

16S Rrna Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Quality Sleep ◽

Wistar Kyoto

Introduction: Sleep that is restless and fragmented impairs cardiovascular (CV) health. Using a rat model, we measured sleep characteristics and assessed bacterial communities in the gut microbiome. We hypothesized poor quality sleep to be associated with a reduction in cardioprotective microbiomes and adverse CV outcomes. Methods: Wistar Kyoto rats had normal sleep (n= 7, controls) or 8-hrs of fragmented sleep (n = 8) for 28 days. Implanted telemetry transmitters recorded blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) signals continuously. Fecal samples were collected daily; microbial composition was determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Results: The sleep fragmented (SF) rats could not achieve deep slow-wave sleep (SWS) for 8-hrs each day—compared with controls, relative EEG delta power (a marker of the depth of sleep) was significantly lower (29±3% versus 39±3%, P = 0.04). In addition, SF was associated with a rise in BP and HR. The relative abundance of Parabacteroides (classified to genus level) and Tannerellaceae (classified to family level), both gram-negative anaerobic bacteria from the phylum Bacteroidetes, were decreased in SF rats during late-SF (intervention days 20 & 27), relative to controls. Elevated Parabacteroides levels (%) were significantly and inversely correlated with systolic (R= -0.002, P <0.001) and diastolic (R= -0.003, P <0.001) BP levels recorded during sleep in both groups of rats. Conclusions: Parabacteroides levels in the gut microbiome may contribute to changes in BP. Undesirable changes in sleep from SF are associated with reduced levels of Parabacteroides during the late-SF period in the gut microbiome, compared with controls. The Parabacteroides -BP associations and reactivity of this bacterium to disrupted sleep support Parabacteroides as an exciting cardioprotective biomarker to stratify and prevent negative CV outcomes provoked by SF.

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Transfer of nitrogen by migratory birds in the African-Western Eurasian Flyways

Animal Migration ◽

10.1515/ami-2020-0101 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 52-57

Author(s):

Sofia Varriano ◽

Julie M. Mallon ◽

Cody Folta ◽

Hawa Coulibaly ◽

Kevin J. Krajcir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Bird Species ◽

N Deposition ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Nitrogen Transfer ◽

Long Distance ◽

Bird Populations ◽

Atlantic Flyway ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Species Specific

AbstractMigrating animals are known to play an important role in nutrient transfer over short distances; however, this phenomenon has not been well studied for long-distance migrants. In this preliminary study, we focused on nitrogen (N) transfer by 44 bird species that migrate from Eurasia to two regions in sub-Saharan Africa that fall into the lowest 10% quantile of global N-deposition (mean annual deposition ≤ 10.44 mg/m2/year). We estimated the number of birds that die during the non-breeding season in these areas and then used N content and species-specific mass values to calculate annual N-deposition rates. For these two areas of low N-deposition, we found that bird mortality contributed 0.2 – 1.1% of total nitrogen deposition, which is a relatively small proportion. Therefore, we conclude that nitrogen transfer by long-distance bird migrants using the East Atlantic Flyway and the West Asian-East African Flyway currently has limited impact on the sub-Saharan nitrogen cycle. However, it is worth noting that this impact may have been more important in the past due to larger bird populations and lower background N-deposition (i.e., less anthropogenic impact).

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Mitochondrial genomes of Anopheles arabiensis, An. gambiae and An. coluzzii show no clear species division

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.13807.2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 347 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mark J. Hanemaaijer ◽

Parker D. Houston ◽

Travis C. Collier ◽

Laura C. Norris ◽

Abdrahamane Fofana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Mitochondrial Genomes ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Chromosomal Form ◽

Operational Taxonomic Units ◽

Mitogenome Sequence ◽

Mitochondrial Sequences ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Species Specific

Here we report the complete mitochondrial sequences of 70 individual field collected mosquito specimens from throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. We generated this dataset to identify species specific markers for the following Anopheles species and chromosomal forms: An. arabiensis, An. coluzzii (The Forest and Mopti chromosomal forms) and An. gambiae (The Bamako and Savannah chromosomal forms). The raw Illumina sequencing reads were mapped to the NC_002084 reference mitogenome sequence. A total of 783 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected on the mitochondrial genome, of which 460 are singletons (58.7%). None of these SNPs are suitable as molecular markers to distinguish among An. arabiensis, An. coluzzii and An. gambiae or any of the chromosomal forms. The lack of species or chromosomal form specific markers is also reflected in the constructed phylogenetic tree, which shows no clear division among the operational taxonomic units considered here.

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Novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles malaria vectors from Sub-Saharan Africa

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.14765.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 113 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Claire L. Jeffries ◽

Gena G. Lawrence ◽

George Golovko ◽

Mojca Kristan ◽

James Orsborne ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Control Strategies ◽

Mosquito Species ◽

Amplicon Sequencing ◽

Pathogen Transmission ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Malaria Vectors ◽

Endosymbiotic Bacterium ◽

Prevalence Rates ◽

Republic Of The Congo ◽

Sub Saharan

Background: Wolbachia, a common insect endosymbiotic bacterium that can influence pathogen transmission and manipulate host reproduction, has historically been considered absent from the Anopheles (An.) genera, but has recently been found in An. gambiae s.l. populations. As there are numerous Anopheles species that have the capacity to transmit malaria, we analysed a range of species to determine Wolbachia prevalence rates, characterise novel Wolbachia strains and determine any correlation between the presence of Plasmodium, Wolbachia and the competing endosymbiotic bacterium Asaia. Methods: Anopheles adult mosquitoes were collected from five malaria-endemic countries: Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Uganda and Madagascar, between 2013 and 2017. Molecular analysis of samples was undertaken using quantitative PCR, Sanger sequencing, Wolbachia multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and high-throughput amplicon sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Results: Novel Wolbachia strains were discovered in five species: An. coluzzii, An. gambiae s.s., An. arabiensis, An. moucheti and An. species ‘A’, increasing the number of Anopheles species known to be naturally infected. Variable prevalence rates in different locations were observed and novel strains were phylogenetically diverse, clustering with Wolbachia supergroup B strains. We also provide evidence for resident strain variants within An. species ‘A’. Wolbachia is the dominant member of the microbiome in An. moucheti and An. species ‘A’, but present at lower densities in An. coluzzii. Interestingly, no evidence of Wolbachia/Asaia co-infections was seen and Asaia infection densities were also shown to be variable and location dependent. Conclusions: The important discovery of novel Wolbachia strains in Anopheles provides greater insight into the prevalence of resident Wolbachia strains in diverse malaria vectors. Novel Wolbachia strains (particularly high-density strains) are ideal candidate strains for transinfection to create stable infections in other Anopheles mosquito species, which could be used for population replacement or suppression control strategies.

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A Review of African Swine Fever – Disease that is Now a Big Concern in Europe

Contemporary Agriculture ◽

10.2478/contagri-2018-0016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 (2) ◽

pp. 110-118

Author(s):

Marina Štukelj ◽

Jan Plut

Keyword(s):

Clinical Signs ◽

Specific Treatment ◽

African Swine Fever ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Rapid Diagnostics ◽

Live Animal ◽

Feral Swine ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Pork Product ◽

Species Specific

Summary African swine fever (ASF) is a serious disease of domestic and feral swine mainly because of grave clinical course of the disease and its strong socio-economic impact. Not only there is an extremely high mortality (95–100%) around the time of the first outbreak, live-animal, pork meat and other pork product trade is strongly affected on regional and international level. ASF is a species-specific disease; strength of the clinical signs depends on virulence of a viral strain. Exacerbation of body temperature and dysfunction of respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract are most common occurrences. Lesions can be mostly classed as congestive or hemorrhagic. Epidemiologically, ASF varies substantially among regions, countries and continents due to wide panel of different virus genotypes, population of feral swine and other reservoirs of disease, geographical characteristics and social habits of people. ASF is endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa where soft ticks (Argaside) and chronically infected feral swine population serve as reservoirs. It also became endemic in most parts of Russian Federation. Since 1978, ASF is endemic on Sardinia isle, as it was eradicated in all other parts of Europe. First outbreak in Georgia in 2007 has apparently served for transmission to other eastern European countries. Slovenia is currently still ASF-free but disease has already reached some relatively nearby countries (Poland, Romania, Moldova, Czech Republic and Hungary). There is no anti-ASF vaccine currently available ad specific treatment has not been described. Therefore rapid diagnostics and implementation of strict biosecurity measures play a key role in prevention of further transmission.

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