Biology Insights

The Need for Mandatory COVID-19 Testing among Pregnant Women: Lessons from Routine Testing

Kanyike Andrew Marvin — 2022-09-03

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to ravage the globe, significantly affecting vulnerable groups like people with chronic illnesses and pregnant women. Unlike early in the pandemic, recent evidence indicates that COVID-19 causes various complications in pregnancy like preterm birth and preeclampsia. However, it is unclear how COVID-19 precisely interplays with pregnancy, and which trimester the infection is most detrimental is variable. Some pregnancy-related complications, such as preeclampsia and eclampsia, share similar pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical features to COVID-19; as a result, they present a diagnostic challenge, with one condition being mistaken for the other, leading to poor pregnancy outcomes. We discovered COVID-19 among asymptomatic mothers who later developed complications and those who initially presented with complications based on our experiences performing routine COVID-19 tests, which were published in various case reports. These patients were mostly in their third trimester, and we believe the outcomes would have been worse if COVID-19 had not been detected early and treated promptly. Therefore, this clinical opinion is structured to show how COVID-19 affects pregnancy and which trimester the infection is most detrimental based on the available data to support routine testing of COVID-19 among pregnant women and to maximize benefits while minimizing costs.

Macroinvertebrates of Wupa River, Abuja, Nigeria: Do environmental variables pattern their assemblages?

Blessing Odafe Omovoh — 2022-03-07

Macroinvertebrates, alongside physico-chemical variables, were sampled and analyzed for nine months between April and December 2019 in three Stations (Stations 1, 2 and 3) in the Wupa River, Abuja, Nigeria. The stations were selected to represent an increasing pollution gradient from Station 1 < Station 2 < Station 3. Our result showed that Station 1 had the lowest mean values of physico-chemical variables, except conductivity and DO. Except for temperature (26.83±0.33^oC), BOD (13.05±0.77 mg/l) and pH (6.91- 7.80) that were highest in Station 2, all other physico-chemical variables had their highest mean values in Station 3. The principal component analysis revealed that axis 1, with a variance of 64.41%, explained more variation in terms of physico-chemical variables than axis 2. Temperature and pH were positively correlated with Station 2, while turbidity and phosphate were strongly positively correlated with Station 3. A total of 49 macroinvertebrate taxa and 5,814 individuals were recorded during the study period. Station 1 (3.038) had the highest macroinvertebrate individuals, followed by Station 2 (1.794). Bulinus globusus with 759 individuals was the most predominant taxon in the area. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that axis 1 explained 86.98% of the ordination variance while axis 2 explained 13.02%. The two axes showed no significant correlation between macroinvertebrate taxa and physico-chemical variables. The CCA triplot showed that Melanoides moerchi, Culex sp., and Oligoneux sp. are surrogates for biomonitoring the Wupa River. We recommend further studies to be conducted along the entire stretch of the river to confirm our present results.

Identifying and Classifying Sites and Macroinvertebrate Taxa into Pollution Categories in an Afrotropic Riverine System: A Multivariate Approach

Augustine Ovie Edegbene — 2022-12-31

Measuring the level of degradation in riverine systems is paramount to assess their current health status. In this study we categorized sites and macroinvertebrate taxa into pollution and biological categories, respectively. Sites categorization was done for four sites, while 12 taxa were biologically categorized in River Ringim, North-western Nigeria. The principal component analysis we constructed showed that physico-chemical variables such as total dissolved solids, conductivity and pH were positively associated with site 2 while sites 3 and 4 were negatively associated with water temperature, air temperature and flow velocity. Further analysis based on the extracted coordinate scores of the four sites, revealed that sites 2 and 4 were critically polluted while sites 1 and 3 were slightly and heavily polluted, respectively. The result of the canonical correspondence analysis revealed macroinvertebrate taxa such as Leutridae and Hydromitridae were positively associated with conductivity, flow velocity, water depth, water temperature, air temperature, DO and pH, confirming their level of tolerance to pollution. Of the 12 taxa categorized, nine were highly vulnerable portraying their level of vulnerability in the sites studied. Our study provides baseline information on the current state of River Ringim, and we recommend more sampling efforts to confirm our present findings.

Diversity and Phylogenetic Analysis of Phytophthora Species Infecting Coorg Mandarin

Priti Sonavane — 2022-04-06

Coorg mandarin is a particular type of mandarin grown in Western Ghats' high humid tropical region. The crop is cultivated in multiple cropping systems of pepper and coffee plantations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and the Kerala states of India. The crop is attacked by a number of diseases. Among them, Phytophthora is a century-old disease causing a major threat to Coorg mandarin cultivation and production in Southern states of India. A systematic random survey was conducted to collect Phytophthora infected samples from the seeds and grafted Coorg mandarin plants in 184 orchards located in different parts of Karnataka. A total of 111 Phytophthora isolates were isolated and characterized from infected plant roots (59) and soil (52) infected Coorg Mandarin samples collected in different orchards. Based on the pathogenicity parameter, only 45 out of 111 Phytophthora isolates were selected, and the ITS region was amplified by PCR using ITS primers and sequenced. Based on the ITS sequence pairwise identity score, 45 Phytophthora isolates were assembled into three groups. The type I group of P. palmivora isolates showed the highest nucleotide identity of 88.5 to 90.8% with P.palmivora (JX198562). In contrast, the type II group of P. palmivora isolates showed nucleotide identity of 93.6 to 99 % with P.palmivora (KF010299) infecting different citrus species, and the type III group of P.nicotianae isolates showed maximum nucleotide identity of more than 93% with P.nicotianae (KJ549640) infecting different citrus species.

Immunological Insights of Bat Coexistence with Viruses and beyond: A Holistic Review

Kundan Patel — 2022-03-14

Bats are the reservoir host of the novel coronavirus/SARS-CoV-2. Bats are known to host hundreds of viruses, although they remain unharmed. Scientific evidence revealed that bats have various immunological specializations that enabled them to remain unaffected to coronaviruses. This manuscript highlights the aspects of bats’ defense mechanism against the viral load and their unique adaptability. Its ability to serve as propagating ground for viruses is favored by its extraordinary physiological traits and unique immune responses, including constitutive active interferons (IFNs), dampened inflammasome response, reduced DNA sensing mechanisms, and unique B and T cell components.
Furthermore, bats have evolved with their efficient mode of oxidative phosphorylation, loss of PYHIN gene family, and positive selection for DNA damage checkpoints. These multiple mechanisms are detrimental to the viral co-existence in bats and spillover events. Furthermore, we have discussed future directions to enhance knowledge and understanding of bat-human interactions and the genetic diversity of bat-borne viruses, which will play a crucial role in preventing future outbreaks.