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Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates.

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Aims: This study was conducted to determine the mycobiota of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius phyllosphere using metagenomics. The phyllosphere, which is the above-ground (aerial) part of plants, is colonized by different microorganisms some of which may be pathogenic to plants and also to humans and animals. Methodology: The mycobiota was determined by sequencing the 18S rRNA gene on Illumina MiSeq platform. The primer pair: ITS1F (5´-CTTGGTCATTTAGAGGAAGTAAT-3´) and ITS4 (5´-TCCTCCGCTTATTGACATGS-3´) were used to target the ITS regions I and II, and a portion of 28S rDNA. Results: A total of 107 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were obtained. The mycobiota of C. aconitifolius had 100% Ascomycota classified into Dothideomycetes (84.15%), Eurotiomycetes (2.26%) and Sordariomycetes (12.45%). Only 1.13% of the fungi were unassigned at the class level. The core mycobiota of chaya consisted of the genera Cladosporium (51.70%), Lasiodiplodia (18.11%), Allophoma (6.79%), Stagonosporosis (2.26%) and Aspergillus (2.26%). Conclusion: The economic importance of the organisms obtained were highlighted. The result from this study shows that C. aconitifolius phyllosphere harbors diverse fungi some of which may promote plant growth or are pathogenic to plants and/or humans.

Microorganisms inhabiting fruits can affect the quality of fruits during storage. Some of these organisms are beneficial while others maybe deleterious (pathogenic). This paper analyzed African star apple (Chrysophyllum albidum) microbiota to detect the bacterial and fungal communities using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology. Healthy and diseased fruits of C. albidum were obtained from Choba market in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. Bacterial and fungal DNA were extracted from the samples and subjected to 16S and 18S rRNA sequencing respectively. Metagenomic analyses of bacterial and fungal strains from the samples revealed total operational taxonomical units (OTUs) as 341 and 4366 respectively. Among bacteria, the phylum Proteobacteria was dominant while all identified fungi belong to the phylum Ascomycota. There was a significant reduction in the abundance of Pseudomonas in the diseased sample when compared to the healthy sample. Conversely, relative abundance of Acetobacter increased in the diseased sample compared to the healthy sample. The fungal genera, Acidomyces, Geosmithia and Magnaporthe were also obtained. Additionally, the bacterial genera, Candidatus Portiera, Blautia, Brevibacterium, Tetragenococcus and Acinetobacter which were present in healthy fruits were not present in the diseased sample. The current study has helped in recognizing the microbial community structure of healthy and diseased fruits of C. albidum. These findings can help predict microbial community structural dynamics involved in the spoilage of African star apple and thus how the spoilage can be prevented or controlled.