Enhancing maize drought and heat tolerance: single vs combined plant growth promoting rhizobacterial inoculation.

Maize ( L.), a key staple crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, is particularly vulnerable to concurrent drought and heat stress, which threatens crop yield and food security. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have shown potential as biofertilizers to enhance plant resilience under such abiotic stresses.

Metabolomic profiling and 16 S rRNA metabarcoding of endophytes of two Aloe species revealed diverse metabolites.

Aloe species are often used interchangeably for medicinal and cosmeceutical applications, presenting a challenge to the biological efficacy consistency of some herbal preparations. Sustainable production of high-quality commonly used medicinal plants remains a limitation for commercialisation. Thus, this study investigated the potential for plant substitution by examining bacterial endophytes capable of producing similar host plant secondary metabolites.

The effects of irrigation on the survival of in the phyllosphere and soil environments of lettuce.

Unlabelled: This study aimed to address the gap in knowledge regarding the fate of foodborne pathogens within agro-ecosystems. It specifically focused on the surrogate microorganism , which was introduced into lettuce-producing environments via surface and spray irrigation methods, respectively. The concentration of in the rhizosphere, phyllosphere, and non-rhizosphere soil was quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) over a 42-day trial.

Genome sequence of isolated from rose leaves exhibiting anthracnose symptoms in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

We present the genome sequence of isolated from rose leaves exhibiting anthracnose symptoms. The genome was assembled to 53.2 Mbp organized into 753 scaffolds having an N50 of 582,313 kbp and a GC content of 52.

Draft genome sequences of GM93m3, a promising probiotic strain from raw goat milk.

The draft genome of a previously documented potential probiotic strain GM93m3 from raw goat milk in Nigeria is reported. The total genome size was 2,447,229 with 46 contigs and G+C content of 44.86%.

Serological Investigation of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection in Commercially Reared Pigs, Southwestern Nigeria.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a zoonotic arbovirus that causes abortion, stillbirth, and congenital defects in pigs, and epidemic encephalitis in humans. Currently, there is scarcity of information on JEV infection in pigs in Nigeria. Since the Culex tritaeniorhynchus vector of JEV is present in Nigeria and considering recent anecdotal reports of abortions and birth of weak piglets in some pig farms in southwestern Nigeria, there is a need for studies on the presence of the virus and its true burden among pig populations in the country.

Molecular characterization of non-aureus staphylococci and Mammaliicoccus from Hipposideros bats in Southwest Nigeria.

Bats are not only ecologically valuable mammals but also reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens. Their vast population, ability to fly, and inhabit diverse ecological niches could play some role in the spread of antibiotic resistance. This study investigated non-aureus staphylococci and Mammaliicoccus colonization in the Hipposideros bats at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Transport fare and road traffic crashes in Nigeria: insights from a geographical analysis.

Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are significantly high in Nigeria with serious social and health consequences. While existing studies on RTCs have mainly focused on the effect of socio-economic, environmental, human and mechanical factors to address the high rates, the relationship between road transport fares and RTCs has been glossed over in literature. Thus, this study examines the influence of road transport fares and other covariates on RTCs.

Adaptive immune cells are necessary for SARS-CoV-2-induced pathology.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is causing the ongoing global pandemic associated with morbidity and mortality in humans. Although disease severity correlates with immune dysregulation, the cellular mechanisms of inflammation and pathogenesis of COVID-19 remain relatively poorly understood. Here, we used mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 strain MA10 to investigate the role of adaptive immune cells in disease.

Soil nutrient management influences diversity, community association and functional structure of rhizosphere bacteriome under vegetable crop production.

Introduction: Rhizosphere bacterial communities play a crucial role in promoting plant and soil ecosystem health and productivity. They also have great potential as key indicators of soil health in agroecosystems. Various environmental factors affect soil parameters, which have been demonstrated to influence soil microbial growth and activities.

Contribution of endophytes towards improving plant bioactive metabolites: a rescue option against red-taping of medicinal plants.

Medicinal plants remain a valuable source for natural drug bioprospecting owing to their multi-target spectrum. However, their use as raw materials for novel drug synthesis has been greatly limited by unsustainable harvesting leading to decimation of their wild populations coupled with inherent low concentrations of constituent secondary metabolites per unit mass. Thus, adding value to the medicinal plants research dynamics calls for adequate attention.

Age-dependent acquisition of pathogenicity by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5.

Pathology studies of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants of concern (VOC) are challenged by the lack of pathogenic animal models. While Omicron BA.1 and BA.

Convergent reductive evolution and host adaptation in Mycoavidus bacterial endosymbionts of Mortierellaceae fungi.

Intimate associations between fungi and intracellular bacterial endosymbionts are becoming increasingly well understood. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that bacterial endosymbionts of Mucoromycota fungi are related either to free-living Burkholderia or Mollicutes species. The so-called Burkholderia-related endosymbionts or BRE comprise Mycoavidus, Mycetohabitans and Candidatus Glomeribacter gigasporarum.

Crosstalk between hypoxic cellular micro-environment and the immune system: a potential therapeutic target for infectious diseases.

There are overwhelming reports on the promotional effect of hypoxia on the malignant behavior of various forms of cancer cells. This has been proposed and tested exhaustively in the light of cancer immunotherapy. However, there could be more interesting functions of a hypoxic cellular micro-environment than malignancy.

Corrigendum to "Development of a GIS-based knowledge hub for contaminants of emerging concern in South African water resources using open-source software: Lessons learnt" [Heliyon 9 (1) (January 2023) Article e13007].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.

Bioaugmentation potential of inoculum derived from anaerobic digestion feedstock for enhanced methane production using water hyacinth.

The utilisation of water hyacinth for production of biogas is considered to be a solution to both its control and the global renewable energy challenge. In this instance, an investigation was conducted to evaluate the potential of water hyacinth inoculum to enhance methane production during anaerobic digestion (AD). Chopped whole water hyacinth (10% (w/v)) was digested to prepare an inoculum consisting mainly of water hyacinth indigenous microbes.

Bacteriological Quality and Biotoxin Profile of Ready-to-Eat Foods Vended in Lagos, Nigeria.

A comprehensive study of bacterial and biotoxin contaminants of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods in Nigeria is yet to be reported. Hence, this study applied 16S rRNA gene sequencing and a dilute-and-shoot LC-MS/MS method to profile bacteria and biotoxins, respectively, in 199 RTE food samples comprising (n = 30) bread (n = 30), shawarma (n = 35), (n = 35), biscuits (n = 34), and (n = 35). A total of 631 bacterial isolates, clustered into seven operational taxonomic units, namely , , , and , , and , that are reported for the first time were recovered from the foods.

Usutu virus: An emerging flavivirus with potential threat to public health in Africa: Nigeria as a case study.

Usutu virus (USUV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) of the flaviviridae family (genus ) which belong to the Japanese encephalitis virus complex. Culex mosquitoes have been implicated in the transmission of this pathogen. The major susceptible hosts of USUV are migratory birds, thereby potentiating its ability to spread from one region to another globally.

Bacterial and yeast communities in raw milk from three dairy animal species in Nigeria.

The present study aimed to reveal the microbial (bacteria and yeast) composition of raw milk from dairy camel (n = 10), cow (n = 10) and goat (n = 10) in North-western Nigeria. High-throughput DNA metabarcoding was used to compare microbial compositions in raw milk among the three species. Although the three species had similar dominant bacterial (Firmicutes and Proteobacteria) and yeast (Ascomycota and Basidiomycota) phyla, their microbial compositions at the genus level were noticeably different.