Domesticated species are impacted in unintended ways during domestication and breeding. Changes in the nature and intensity of selection impart genetic drift, reduce diversity, and increase the frequency of deleterious alleles. Such outcomes constrain our ability to expand the cultivation of crops into environments that differ from those under which domestication occurred. We address this need in chickpea, an important pulse legume, by harnessing the diversity of wild crop relatives. We document an extreme domestication-related genetic bottleneck and decipher the genetic history of wild populations. We provide evidence of ancestral adaptations for seed coat color crypsis, estimate the impact of environment on genetic structure and trait values, and demonstrate variation between wild and cultivated accessions for agronomic properties. A resource of genotyped, association mapping progeny functionally links the wild and cultivated gene pools and is an essential resource chickpea for improvement, while our methods inform collection of other wild crop progenitor species.

BackgroundEnset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) belongs to the order sctaminae, the family musaceae. The Musaceae family is subdivided into the genera Musa and Ensete. Enset is an important staple crop for about 20 million people in the country. Recent publications on enset ethnobotany are insignificant when compared to the diverse ethnolingustic communities in the country. Hence, this paper try to identify and document wealth of indigenous knowledge associated with the distribution, diversity, and management of enset in the country.MethodsThe study was conducted in eight ethnic groups in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State. In order to identify and document wealth of indigenous knowledge, the data was collected mainly through individual interviews and direct on-farm participatory monitoring and observation with 320 farm households, key informant interviews. Relevant secondary data, literature and inter-personal data were collected from unpublished progress report from National Enset Research Project, elderly people and senior experts.ResultsEnset-based farming system is one of a major agricultural system in Ethiopia that serves as a backbone for at least ¼ of country’s population. Farmers used three morphological characters, two growth attributes, disease resistance and five use values traits in folk classification and characterization of enset. A total of 312 folk landraces have been identified. The number of landraces cultivated on individual farms ranged from one to twenty eight (mean of 8.08 ± 0.93). All ethnic groups in the study area use five use categories in order of importance: kocho yield and quality, bulla quality, amicho use, fiber quality and medicinal/ritual value. Of the 312 landraces 245 landraces having more than two use types. Management and maintenance of on-farm enset diversity is influenced by systematic propagation of the landraces, exchange of planting material and selective pressure.ConclusionIt can be concluded that the existing farmers’ knowledge on naming, classification and diversity should be complemented with maintenance of the creative dynamics of traditional knowledge and transmission of the knowledge are crucial for constructing sustainable management.

Background: Frequency distribution of blood groups is important as it is used in modern medicine, genetic research, anthropology, and tracing ancestral relations of humans. The ABO and Rh blood groups are the most important blood groups despite the long list of several other blood groups discovered so far.Aim of the study: To study and document the frequency of ABO and Rh (D) blood groups in three ethnic groups of Silte Zone, Ethiopia.Subjects and methods: ABO and Rh (D) typing was carried out during 2012 and a total of 441 students from both genders were randomly selected from Silte Secondary and Preparatory School, SNNPR, Ethiopia. Finger prick blood samples from both genders were tested for ABO and Rh (D) blood groups by the open slide test method. A drop of each of the antisera, anti-A, anti-B and anti-D was added and mixed with each blood sample and rocked gently for 60 s to observe agglutination.Results: The blood group ''O'' was predominant (36.73%, 40.14%, 46.26% in Sodo, Silte and Meskan ethnic groups, respectively) in all the Rh positive subjects whereas blood group ''A'' was predominant (5.4%) in the Rh negative subjects only in the Sodo ethnic group among the three ethnic groups. The percentage of Rh (D) positive and negative subjects was 91. 16%, 93.19%, 91.84% and 8.84%, 6.81%, 8.16% in Sodo, Silte and Meskan ethnic groups, respectively.Conclusion: The frequency of ABO blood groups in both Rh positive and negative subjects among the three ethnic groups of the Silte Zone, Ethiopia was O > A > B > AB, except in the Sodo ethnic group where the blood group A was the commonest among Rh negative subjects.Ó 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Ain Shams University.

Investment in SARS-CoV-2 sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences generated, now exceeding 100,000 genomes, used to track the pandemic on the continent. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries able to sequence domestically, and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround time and more regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and shed light on the distinct dispersal dynamics of Variants of Concern, particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron, on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve, while the continent faces many emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century.

Comparative sequencing of >7 kb of highly variable chloroplast genome regions (atpB-rbcL, trnS-trnG, rpl22-rps19, and rps19-rpl2 spacers; introns in atpF, trnG, trnK, and rpl16) with microsatellites known from other angiosperms was carried out in Coffea. Samples comprised 8 diploid species of Coffea, 5 individuals of tetraploid C. arabica representing geographically distant wild populations from Ethiopia, 2 commercial cultivars of C. arabica, and Psilanthus leroyi and Ixora coccinea as outgroups. Phylogeny reconstruction using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference resulted in congruent topologies with high support for C. arabica and C. eugenioides being sisters. Partitioned analyses showed that all regions except the atpB-rbcL spacer resolved this sister-group, although this was often unsupported. The large sequence data set further shows that chloroplast genomes of C. arabica and C. eugenioides each possess apomorphies, indicating that not C. eugenioides but an ancestor or close relative of C. eugenioides is the maternal parent of C. arabica. Seven variable chloroplast microsatellites were characterized in Coffea. Most microsatellites are poly(A/T) stretches, whereas one in the trnS-trnG spacer has an (AT)n motif. Most strikingly, all individuals of C. arabica possess identical sequences, suggesting a single chloroplast haplotype. This can be explained by a recent origin of C. arabica in a unique allopolyploidization event, or by severe bottleneck effects in the evolutionary history of the species. Reconstruction of the evolution of microstructural mutations shows much higher levels of homoplasy in microsatellite loci than in other parts of spacers and introns. Microsatellites are inferred to evolve by insertion and deletion of 1 to 3 motif copies in one step.