Whole-Genome Sequencing of Streptomycin-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain SBH145 from Sabah, Malaysia

This paper reports on the whole-genome sequencing of a streptomycin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain that was isolated from a patient with pulmonary tuberculosis in Sabah state of Malaysian Borneo. The strain belongs to the EAI2-Manila family of lineage 1 and is clustered with M. tuberculosis strains from the Philippines, India, and Taiwan.

Ecological surveillance of bat coronaviruses in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Objective Coronaviruses (CoVs) are natural commensals of bats. Two subgenera, namely Sarbecoviruses and Merbecoviruses have a high zoonotic potential and have been associated with three separate spillover events in the past 2 decades, making surveillance of bat-CoVs crucial for the prevention of the next epidemic. The study was aimed to elucidate the presence of coronavirus in fresh bat guano sampled from Wind Cave Nature Reserve (WCNR) in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Samples collected were placed into viral transport medium, transported on ice within the collection day, and preserved at − 80 °C. Nucleic acid was extracted using the column method and screened using consensus PCR primers targeting the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene. Amplicons were sequenced bidirectionally using the Sanger method. Phylogenetic tree with maximum-likelihood bootstrap and Bayesian posterior probability were constructed. Results CoV-RNA was detected in ten specimens (47.6%, n = 21). Six alphacoronavirus and four betacoronaviruses were identified. The bat-CoVs can be phylogenetically grouped into four novel clades which are closely related to Decacovirus-1 and Decacovirus-2, Sarbecovirus, and an unclassified CoV. CoVs lineages unique to the Island of Borneo were discovered in Sarawak, Malaysia, with one of them closely related to Sarbecovirus. All of them are distant from currently known human coronaviruses.

Serological Evidence of Zika Virus Infection in Febrile Patients and Healthy Blood Donors in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, 2017–2018

Several Zika virus (ZIKV) seroprevalence studies have been conducted in Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Americas, and the Caribbean. However, studies on ZIKV seroprevalence are limited in Malaysia though several studies have shown that the disease is endemic in the Malaysian state of Sabah. To evaluate the seroprevalence of ZIKV infection, 818 serum samples were collected from febrile patients and healthy blood donors from the Kudat and Kota Kinabalu districts in Sabah from 2017 to 2018. They were screened for ZIKV infection by IgM and IgG ELISA, and positive ZIKV IgM samples were subjected to a 90% neutralization test for confirmation. Twenty-four (6% [95% CI 4 to 8]) confirmed and two (0.5% [95% CI 0.13 to 1.8]) probable ZIKV infections were detected among 400 febrile illness patients. Of 418 healthy blood donor samples, six (1.4% [95% CI 0.65 to 3]) were determined as confirmed ZIKV infections and six (1.4% [95% CI 0.65 to 3]) indicated probable ZIKV infection. This is the first study on the seroprevalence of ZIKV infections among patients and healthy blood donors in Sabah. Compared with previous studies in Malaysia, this study shows that the incidence of ZIKV infection has increased. It also suggests that a sero-surveillance system is essential to determine the circulation of ZIKV in Sabah, Malaysia.

Variable detectability and El-Niño associations with riparian snakes in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Although snake populations are suffering numerous local declines, determining the scale of these declines is problematic due to the elusive nature of snakes. Determining the factors associated with species detection is therefore essential for quantifying disturbance effects on populations. From 2017 to 2019, we assessed the detectability associations of five river-associated snake species and all snake detections in general within two logging concessions in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Data collected from both stream transects and visual encounter surveys at 47 stream sites were incorporated into an occupancy-modelling framework to determine the climatological, temporal and survey distance associations with species detection probability. Detection probability of riparian snake species was significantly associated with humidity, month (2 spp. each), survey distance and total rainfall over 60 days (1 spp. each). Pooled snake species detectability was significantly positively associated with transect distance and the 2019 El-Niño year, whilst yearly pooled snake species detections in stream transects spiked during El-Niño (2017 = 2.05, 2018 = 2.47, 2019 = 4.5 snakes per km). This study provides new insights into the detectability of riparian rainforest snakes and suggests that future studies should account for short-term (climatological and temporal) and long-term (El-Niño) factors associated with detection probability when surveying and assessing snake populations.

Success of Ecotourism Sites and Local Community Participation in Sabah

<p>Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, is an ecotourism destination that is well known in the international tourism scene, where nature and culture has been positioned as the two main products. With high biodiversity and more than 30 distinctive cultures, ecotourism has been embraced by all stakeholders in the state since the 1990s. After a decade or so, many stakeholders are very eager to judge and give judgments of what success entails. The complexity of the stakeholders' characteristics usually results in various perceptions of success. The thesis sets out to interpret and develop the indicators for success of local community participation and ecotourism sites in Sabah. Both, local community participation and ecotourism site were chosen due to the nature of the ecotourism industry where business and community development is very closely tied together. This thesis employs plans and policy analysis and comparative case study as its methodology. The data were then analysed to get the results, which are success indicators for local community participation and ecotourism sites based on the perception of stakeholders. The indicators emerged from the analysis are put into perspective by analysing the results with the analysis of plans and policies and case studies. Two sets of indicators are proposed, both for local community participation success and ecotourism site's success, which is valuable to the industry in reviewing their current plans and policies. It is also useful in monitoring and evaluating current local community participation activities. The indicators are quite consistent with those others drawn from the literature review. The analysis also shows that there are issues that need to be addressed with regards to these indicators. These indicators are output-based, therefore there is a need to establish the measurement or the parameters of these indicators to make it more quantifiable and more meaningful. Another aspect that the thesis identified is that the strongest indicators are those that were agreed by all stakeholders and the recipients that benefits are both the site and the local community. While this is emphasising the importance of local community in the ecotourism set up, it is also suggested that a set up of an integrated development and management among stakeholders, of local community and ecotourism with the common objective and common operational process, are seen as successful. This will contribute to tourism literature by enhancing the knowledge of ecotourism, and to the ecotourism industry by providing a means of evaluating local community participation activities and ecotourism sites.</p>

Success of Ecotourism Sites and Local Community Participation in Sabah

<p>Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, is an ecotourism destination that is well known in the international tourism scene, where nature and culture has been positioned as the two main products. With high biodiversity and more than 30 distinctive cultures, ecotourism has been embraced by all stakeholders in the state since the 1990s. After a decade or so, many stakeholders are very eager to judge and give judgments of what success entails. The complexity of the stakeholders' characteristics usually results in various perceptions of success. The thesis sets out to interpret and develop the indicators for success of local community participation and ecotourism sites in Sabah. Both, local community participation and ecotourism site were chosen due to the nature of the ecotourism industry where business and community development is very closely tied together. This thesis employs plans and policy analysis and comparative case study as its methodology. The data were then analysed to get the results, which are success indicators for local community participation and ecotourism sites based on the perception of stakeholders. The indicators emerged from the analysis are put into perspective by analysing the results with the analysis of plans and policies and case studies. Two sets of indicators are proposed, both for local community participation success and ecotourism site's success, which is valuable to the industry in reviewing their current plans and policies. It is also useful in monitoring and evaluating current local community participation activities. The indicators are quite consistent with those others drawn from the literature review. The analysis also shows that there are issues that need to be addressed with regards to these indicators. These indicators are output-based, therefore there is a need to establish the measurement or the parameters of these indicators to make it more quantifiable and more meaningful. Another aspect that the thesis identified is that the strongest indicators are those that were agreed by all stakeholders and the recipients that benefits are both the site and the local community. While this is emphasising the importance of local community in the ecotourism set up, it is also suggested that a set up of an integrated development and management among stakeholders, of local community and ecotourism with the common objective and common operational process, are seen as successful. This will contribute to tourism literature by enhancing the knowledge of ecotourism, and to the ecotourism industry by providing a means of evaluating local community participation activities and ecotourism sites.</p>

A comparison of the clinical, laboratory and epidemiological features of two divergent subpopulations of Plasmodium knowlesi

Plasmodium knowlesi, a simian malaria parasite responsible for all recent indigenous cases of malaria in Malaysia, infects humans throughout Southeast Asia. There are two genetically distinct subpopulations of Plasmodium knowlesi in Malaysian Borneo, one associated with long-tailed macaques (termed cluster 1) and the other with pig-tailed macaques (cluster 2). A prospective study was conducted to determine whether there were any between-subpopulation differences in clinical and laboratory features, as well as in epidemiological characteristics. Over 2 years, 420 adults admitted to Kapit Hospital, Malaysian Borneo with knowlesi malaria were studied. Infections with each subpopulation resulted in mostly uncomplicated malaria. Severe disease was observed in 35/298 (11.7%) of single cluster 1 and 8/115 (7.0%) of single cluster 2 infections (p = 0.208). There was no clinically significant difference in outcome between the two subpopulations. Cluster 1 infections were more likely to be associated with peri-domestic activities while cluster 2 were associated with interior forest activities consistent with the preferred habitats of the respective macaque hosts. Infections with both P. knowlesi subpopulations cause a wide spectrum of disease including potentially life-threatening complications, with no implications for differential patient management.

Isotopic signatures reveal zinc cycling in the natural habitat of hyperaccumulator Dichapetalum gelonioides subspecies from Malaysian Borneo

Background Some subspecies of Dichapetalum gelonioides are the only tropical woody zinc (Zn)-hyperaccumulator plants described so far and the first Zn hyperaccumulators identified to occur exclusively on non-Zn enriched 'normal' soils. The aim of this study was to investigate Zn cycling in the parent rock-soil-plant interface in the native habitats of hyperaccumulating Dichapetalum gelonioides subspecies (subsp. pilosum and subsp. sumatranum). We measured the Zn isotope ratios (δ66Zn) of Dichapetalum plant material, and associated soil and parent rock materials collected from Sabah (Malaysian Borneo). Results We found enrichment in heavy Zn isotopes in the topsoil (δ66Zn 0.13 ‰) relative to deep soil (δ66Zn -0.15 ‰) and bedrock (δ66Zn -0.90 ‰). This finding suggests that both weathering and organic matter influenced the Zn isotope pattern in the soil-plant system, with leaf litter cycling contributing significantly to enriched heavier Zn in topsoil. Within the plant, the roots were enriched in heavy Zn isotopes (δ66Zn ~ 0.60 ‰) compared to mature leaves (δ66Zn ~ 0.30 ‰), which suggests highly expressed membrane transporters in these Dichapetalum subspecies preferentially transporting lighter Zn isotopes during root-to-shoot translocation. The shoots, mature leaves and phloem tissues were enriched in heavy Zn isotopes (δ66Zn 0.34–0.70 ‰) relative to young leaves (δ66Zn 0.25 ‰). Thisindicates that phloem sources are enriched in heavy Zn isotopes relative to phloem sinks, likely because of apoplastic retention and compartmentalization in the Dichapetalum subspecies. Conclusions The findings of this study reveal Zn cycling in the rock-soil-plant continuum within the natural habitat of Zn hyperaccumulating subspecies of Dichapetalum gelonioides from Malaysian Borneo. This study broadens our understanding of the role of a tropical woody Zn hyperaccumulator plant in local Zn cycling, and highlights the important role of leaf litter recycling in the topsoil Zn budget. Within the plant, phloem plays key role in Zn accumulation and redistribution during growth and development. This study provides an improved understanding of the fate and behaviour of Zn in hyperaccumulator soil-plant systems, and these insights may be applied in the biofortification of crops with Zn.