Occurrence of passion fruit woodiness disease in the coastal lowlands of Kenya and screening of passion fruit genotypes for resistance to passion fruit woodiness disease.

Background: Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis [Sims]) is an important economic fruit crop in Kenya, grown for domestic, regional and international markets. However, passion fruit production is constrained by both biotic and abiotic stresses. Passion fruit woodiness disease (PWD) complex is the most injurious viral disease responsible for yield losses of up to 100%.

Genetic and phenotypic diversity of microsymbionts nodulating promiscuous soybeans from different agro-climatic conditions.

Background: Global food supply is highly dependent on field crop production that is currently severely threatened by changing climate, poor soil quality, abiotic, and biotic stresses. For instance, one of the major challenges to sustainable crop production in most developing countries is limited nitrogen in the soil. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation of legumes such as soybean (Glycine max (L.

Identification of enteroviruses along Lake Victoria shoreline - a potential indicator of sewage pollution.

E n t e r i c v i r u s e s a r e m a i n l y t r a n s m i t t e d b y t h e f a e c a l - o r a l r o u t e a n d h a v e b e e n l i n k e d t o s e v e r a l d i s e a s e s i n c l u d i n g g a s t r o e n t e r i t i s a n d r e s p i r a t o r y i n f e c t i o n s . T h e i r p r e s e n c e i n s u r f a c e w a t e r s h a s b e e n exacerbated by p o l l u t i o n f r o m a v a r i e t y o f p o i n t s o u r c e s s u c h a s s e w a g e d i s c h a r g e . W e s t u d i e d t h e occurrence o f e n t e r o v i r u s e s i n w a t e r s a m p l e s f r o m L a k e V i c t o r i a i n K e n y a t o i n v e s t i g a t e i f t h e r e w a s a l i n k b e t w e e n s e w a g e p o l l u t i o n a n d d e t e c t i o n o f e n t e r o v i r u s e s ( E V s ) t o b u i l d a b a s e l i n e f o r a n enteric viruses monitoring platform for this region.

Effects of Contamination of Freshwater Habitat With Common Heavy Metals and Anions on the Prevalence of Human Adenoviruses and Enteroviruses.

The occurrence and survival of enteric viruses in open surface waters can be impacted by a host of factors including fecal emission levels, seasonal variations, virus stability and the physicochemical parameters. In this research, we aimed to document the association between contaminations of water samples with human enteric viruses (adenoviruses and enteroviruses) from a freshwater lake with variations in chemical contaminants. We collected 216 water samples from October 2010 to April 2012, from a 4 km stretch along Lake Victoria (LV) basin in Homa Bay town located in the western region of Kenya.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella species and Escherichia coli isolates from poultry feeds in Ruiru Sub-County, Kenya.

Objectives: Contaminated poultry feeds can be a major source of E. coli and Salmonella infections in poultry. This study aimed at determining microbial load, prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella sp.

Molecular Detection of Human Enteric Adenoviruses in Water Samples Collected from Lake Victoria Waters Along Homa Bay Town, Homa Bay County, Kenya.

Lake Victoria is the primary source of water for millions of people in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. In recent years, population development around the lake has resulted in compromised sanitation standards resulting in increased faecal pollution of the lake. Consequently, this condition has increased the chances of waterborne enteric viruses, such as adenoviruses' circulation in the community.

Occurrence of Enteric Viruses in Surface Water and the Relationship with Changes in Season and Physical Water Quality Dynamics.

Environmental water quality issues have dominated global discourse and studies over the past five decades. Significant parameters of environmental water quality include changes in biological and physical parameters. Some of the biological parameters of significance include occurrence of enteric viruses.

Genetic diversity of symbiotic bacteria nodulating common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in western Kenya.

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in legumes plays a critical role in improving soil fertility. Despite this vital role, there is limited information on the genetic diversity and BNF of bacteria nodulating common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

Genetic Characterization and Diversity of Isolated From Root Nodules of Mid-Altitude Climbing Bean ( L.) Varieties.

The increasing interest in the use of rhizobia as biofertilizers in smallholder agricultural farming systems of the Sub-Saharan Africa has prompted the identification of a large number of tropical rhizobia strains and led to studies on their diversity. Inoculants containing diverse strains of rhizobia have been developed for use as biofertilizers to promote soil fertility and symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes. In spite of this success, there is paucity of data on rhizobia diversity and genetic variation associated with the newly released and improved mid-altitude climbing (MAC) bean lines ( L.

Xerophyta viscosa Aldose Reductase, XvAld1, Enhances Drought Tolerance in Transgenic Sweetpotato.

Sweetpotato is a significant crop which is widely cultivated particularly in the developing countries with high and stable yield. However, drought stress is a major limiting factor that antagonistically influences the crop's productivity. Dehydration stress caused by drought causes aggregation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants, and aldose reductases are first-line safeguards against ROS caused by oxidative stress.

Potential of Native Rhizobia in Enhancing Nitrogen Fixation and Yields of Climbing Beans ( L.) in Contrasting Environments of Eastern Kenya.

Climbing bean ( L.) production in Kenya is greatly undermined by low soil fertility, especially in agriculturally prolific areas. The use of effective native rhizobia inoculants to promote nitrogen fixation could be beneficial in climbing bean production.

Symbiotic Efficiency of Native Rhizobia Nodulating Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Soils of Western Kenya.

This study was conducted to determine the abundance and symbiotic efficiency of native rhizobia nodulating common bean in Kisumu and Kakamega, Kenya. Soil sampling was carried out in three farms that had been used for growing common bean for at least two seasons and one fallow land with no known history of growing common bean or inoculation. Abundance of soil rhizobia and symbiotic efficiency (SE) were determined in a greenhouse experiment.