Anthropogenic activities in catchments used for drinking water production largely contaminates source waters, and this may impact the quality of the final drinking water product. These contaminants may also affect taxonomic and functional profiles of the bacterial communities in the drinking water. Here, we report an integrated insight into the microbiome and water quality of four water treatment plants (NWC, NWE, WCA and NWG) that supply portable water to communities in South Africa. A new scoring system based on combined significant changes of physicochemical parameters and microbial abundance from raw to treated water was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment plants at water purification. Physicochemical parameters which include total soluble solids, turbidity, pH, nitrites and phosphorus among others, were measured in source, treated, and distributed water. There were general statistically significant (P � 0.05) differences between raw and treated water, demonstrating the effectiveness of the purification process. Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used for taxonomic profiling of the microbial communities and this data was used to infer functional attributes of the communities. Structure and composition of the bacterial communities differed significantly (P < 0.05) among the treatment plants, only NWE and NWG showed no significant differences (P > 0.05), this correlated with the predicted functional profile of the microbial communities obtained from Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Observed States (PICRUSt), as well as the likely pollutants of source water. Bacteroidetes, Chlorobi and Fibrobacteres significantly differed (P < 0.05) between raw and distributed water. PICRUSt inferred a number of pathways involved in the degradation of xenobiotics such as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, atrazine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. More worryingly, was the presence of pathways involved in beta-lactam resistance, potential pathogenic Escherichia coli infection, Vibrio cholerae infection, and Shigellosis. Also present in drinking and treated water were OTUs associated with a number of opportunistic pathogens.

Portulaca umbraticola Kunth, with ephemeral flowers, has become an important summer bedding plant in Japan. A lot of new cultivars have recently been bred with different flowering characteristics, but there is little information about P. umbraticola cultivars. In this study, we investigated the differences in flower longevity, endogenous ethylene production and ethylene sensitivity between a conventional cultivar, 'Single Red' (SR), and a newly released cultivar, 'Sanchuraka Cherry Red' (SCR). The flowers of SR opened and closed earlier than those of SCR and the flower longevity of SCR was significantly longer than that of SR. The effects of pollination, filament wounding and pistil removal on flower longevity were also investigated in both cultivars. Pollination, filament wounding and pistil removal significantly accelerated senescence in both cultivars, but filament wounding was much more significant in accelerating senescence. Endogenous ethylene production from flower opening to closure was significantly higher in SR than in SCR. The peak ethylene production in SR occurred 2 h earlier than that in SCR. Exogenous ethylene treatments of 0.5, 1, and 2 μL·L −1 significantly accelerated the rate of senescence in both SR and SCR. The use of ethylene action inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) significantly improved flower longevity in both cultivars, with the latter being much more effective. The better flower longevity of SCR seems to be related to lower endogenous ethylene production. The senescence of P. umbraticola cultivars seems to be ethylene-dependent.

Comparative genomics, in particular, pan-genome analysis, provides an in-depth understanding of the genetic variability and dynamics of a bacterial species. Coupled with whole-genome-based taxonomic analysis, these approaches can help to provide comprehensive, detailed insights into a bacterial species. Here, we report whole-genome-based taxonomic classification and comparative genomic analysis of potential human pathogenic Enterobacter hormaechei subsp. hoffmannii isolated from chlorinated wastewater. Genome Blast Distance Phylogeny (GBDP), digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH), and average nucleotide identity (ANI) confirmed the identity of the isolates. The algorithm PathogenFinder predicted the isolates to be human pathogens with a probability of greater than 0.78. The potential pathogenic nature of the isolates was supported by the presence of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), aerobactin, and aryl polyenes (APEs), which are known to be associated with pathogenic/virulent strains. Moreover, analysis of the genome sequences of the isolates reflected the presence of an arsenal of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance genes that augment the predictions of the algorithm PathogenFinder. The study comprehensively elucidated the genomic features of pathogenic Enterobacter isolates from wastewaters, highlighting the role of wastewaters in the dissemination of pathogenic microbes, and the need for monitoring the effectiveness of the wastewater treatment process.

Here, we report high-quality annotated draft genomes of eight coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolates obtained from South Africa and Nigeria. We explored the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes, their association with mobile genetic elements. The pan-genomic analysis highlighted the environmentally driven heterogeneity of the isolates. Isolates from Nigeria had at least one gene for cadmium resistance/tolerance, these genes were not detected in isolates from South Africa. In contrast, isolates from South Africa had a tetM gene, which was not detected among the isolates from Nigeria. The observed genomic heterogeneity correlates with anthropogenic activities in the area where the isolates were collected. Moreover, the isolates used in this study possess an open pan-genome, which could easily explain the environmentally driven heterogeneity.

Portulaca umbraticola is an ephemeral flower that opens early in the morning and wilts in the late afternoon. Although light and temperature act as major external cues to limit the velocity of flower opening, endogenous factors regulating its timing are largely unknown. In this study, we used time lapse photography to study the effect of different photoperiods and light qualities on the flower opening rhythm of Portulaca umbraticola. However, when the dark period was less than 6 h, loss of synchronicity of flower opening was observed. Synchronicity of flower opening was only set when the dark period was greater than or equal to 6 h.