The phyla Planctomycetes, Verrucomicrobia, Chlamydiae, Lentisphaerae, and "Candidatus Omnitrophica (OP3)" comprise bacteria that share an ancestor but show highly diverse biological and ecological features. Together, they constitute the PVC superphylum. Using large-scale comparative genome sequence analysis, we identified a protein uniquely shared among all of the known members of the PVC super...

The search for biological control agents of mosquitoes is an important component of the Steering Committee of the Scientific Workine Group on Biological Control of Vectors (UNDP7 WORLD BANK/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases). Such searches may eventually provide additional biological control agents for use against disease vectors in tropical countries and also...

The present report deals with several western Atlantic species of the snapping shrimp genus Synalpheus Spence Bate, 1888 occurring in Brazilian territorial waters. Two species, Synalpheus cf. ruetzleri Macdonald & Duffy, 2006 and Synalpheus yano (Ríos & Duffy, 2007), are recorded from the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and Brazil (Ceará) for the first time; S. yano is also newly reported from the ...

Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Ca. L. asiaticus) is a parasitic gram-negative bacterium that is closely associated with Huanglongbing (HLB), a worldwide citrus disease. Given the difficulty in culturing the bacterium and thus in its experimental characterization, computational analyses of the whole Ca. L. asiaticus proteome can provide much needed insights into the mechanisms of the disease...

To evaluate the role of wildlife in the resurgence and perenisation of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), we investigated the influence of habitat and seasonal variations on the diversity and spatial distribution of wild mammals, with special reference to those recognised as potential host-reservoirs of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in Bipindi (southwestern Cameroon). To achieve this, we carri...

The Louisiana red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, which was introduced into east Africa in the 1950s or 1960s, has since widely dispersed. Previous work by our group has shown that P. clarkii can reduce populations of the molluscan intermediate hosts of human schistosomes through predatory and competitive interactions. Here, we investigate whether crayfish can reduce populations of Bulinus...

The growing demand for wood has resulted in large volumes of wood wastes that are daily released to the soil from the activities of sawmills in South-Western Nigeria. In an attempt to setup a bioremediation model for sawdust, this study therefore aimed at evaluating microbial diversity, and the level of digestive enzymes in the gut of earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae, Libyodrilus violaceous and Hy...