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Bendix AF, Trentin AB, Vasconcelos MW, Pilonetto JC, Kuhn BC, Leite DCDA, De Barros FRO, Cardoso JMK, Gabiatti NC, Wendt SN, Ghisi NDC. From chaos to clarity: The scientometric breakthrough in COVID-19 research. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2024; 110:116438. [PMID: 39047387 DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 07/02/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed the world for over three years, generating unprecedented social changes in recent human history. AIMS We aimed to scientometrically summarize a global and temporal overview of publications on COVID-19 in the two worst years of the pandemic and its progression in early 2022, after the start of vaccination. METHODS Using the Web of Science database, this review covered the period from late 2019 to March 2022 and included all publications identified using the following terms: "SARS-CoV-2", "COVID-19", "Coronavirus Disease 19", and "2019-nCoV". We retrieved 268,904 publications, with evident global spreading, demonstrating that the pandemic triggered worldwide scientific research efforts. RESULTS Within the dataset, 195 countries have published about Covid-19. In initial publications, a solid trend in genotyping, sequencing, and detection of the virus was evident; however, in the development of the pandemic, new knowledge and research focus gained relevance, with continental solid trends, revealed by the keywords sustainability (eastern Europe); material sciences (Asia); public and mental health (Africa); information sciences (western Europe); education (Latin America). It identified high-impact research, mainly on diagnosis and vaccines, but also equally essential topics for returning life to the new normal, such as mental health, education, and remote work. The world experienced a highly transmissible infection that proved how fragile we are regarding organization and society. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to learn from such an event and establish a protocol of actions and measures to be taken and avoided in a health emergency, aiming to act differently from the chaos experienced during the pandemic. Following the One Health approach, humanity must be aware of the need for more sustainable attitudes, given the inseparability of human beings from the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Felipe Bendix
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia - PPGBIOTEC, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Alex Batista Trentin
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia - PPGBIOTEC, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Marina Wust Vasconcelos
- Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética (PPGGEN), Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brasil
| | - Jessica Cousseau Pilonetto
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia - PPGBIOTEC, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Betty Cristiane Kuhn
- Coordenação do Curso de Engenharia de Bioprocessos e Biotecnologia, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Deborah Catharine De Assis Leite
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia - PPGBIOTEC, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias Computacionais para o Agronegócio-PPGTCA, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Medianeira, Brasil
| | - Flavia Regina Oliveira De Barros
- Coordenação do Curso de Engenharia de Bioprocessos e Biotecnologia, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Brasil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia (PPZ), Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Juliana Morini Küpper Cardoso
- Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Naiana Cristine Gabiatti
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia - PPGBIOTEC, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Simone Neumann Wendt
- Coordenação do Curso de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil
| | - Nédia de Castilhos Ghisi
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia - PPGBIOTEC, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, Brasil; Dois Vizinhos/ Laboratório Multiusuário de Análises Biológicas e Biologia Molecular (BioMol) - UTFPR, Grupo de Pesquisa em Biologia Molecular - UTFPR, Brasil.
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Mahmoudi Azar L, Öncel MM, Karaman E, Soysal LF, Fatima A, Choi SB, Eyupoglu AE, Erman B, Khan AM, Uysal S. Human ACE2 orthologous peptide sequences show better binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 RBD domain: Implications for drug design. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:4096-4109. [PMID: 37671240 PMCID: PMC10475354 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.07.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Computational methods coupled with experimental validation play a critical role in the identification of novel inhibitory peptides that interact with viral antigenic determinants. The interaction between the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the helical peptide of human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) is a necessity for the initiation of viral infection. Herein, natural orthologs of human ACE2 helical peptide were evaluated for competitive inhibitory binding to the viral RBD by use of a computational approach, which was experimentally validated. A total of 624 natural ACE2 orthologous 32-amino acid long peptides were identified through a similarity search. Molecular docking was used to virtually screen and rank the peptides based on binding affinity metrics, benchmarked against human ACE2 peptide docked to the RBD. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were done for the human reference and the Nipponia nippon peptide as it exhibited the highest binding affinity (Gibbs free energy; -14 kcal/mol) predicted from the docking results. The MD simulation confirmed the stability of the assessed peptide in the complex (-12.3 kcal/mol). The top three docked-peptides (from Chitinophaga sancti, Nipponia nippon, and Mus musculus) and the human reference were experimentally validated by use of surface plasmon resonance technology. The human reference exhibited the weakest binding affinity (Kd of 318-441 pM) among the peptides tested, in agreement with the docking prediction, while the peptide from Nipponia nippon was the best, with 267-538-fold higher affinity than the reference. The validated peptides merit further investigation. This work showcases that the approach herein can aid in the identification of inhibitory biosimilar peptides for other viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Mahmoudi Azar
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
| | - Muhammed Miran Öncel
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
| | - Elif Karaman
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
- Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Health Sciences, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34093, Turkiye
| | - Levent Faruk Soysal
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
| | - Ayesha Fatima
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
| | - Sy Bing Choi
- Centre for Bioinformatics, School of Data Sciences, Perdana University, Kuala Lumpur 50490, Malaysia
| | - Alp Ertunga Eyupoglu
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Bogazici University, Istanbul 34450 Turkiye
| | - Batu Erman
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Bogazici University, Istanbul 34450 Turkiye
| | - Asif M. Khan
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
- Centre for Bioinformatics, School of Data Sciences, Perdana University, Kuala Lumpur 50490, Malaysia
| | - Serdar Uysal
- Beykoz Institute of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul 34820, Turkiye
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Ghareeb YE, Soliman SS, Ismail TA, Hassan MA, Abdelkader MA, Abdel Latef AAH, Al-Khayri JM, ALshamrani SM, Safhi FA, Awad MF, El-Moneim DA, Hassanin AA. Improvement of German Chamomile ( Matricaria recutita L.) for Mechanical Harvesting, High Flower Yield and Essential Oil Content Using Physical and Chemical Mutagenesis. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 11:2940. [PMID: 36365394 PMCID: PMC9653700 DOI: 10.3390/plants11212940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Chamomile (Matricariarecutita L.) is one of the most important medicinal plants with various applications. The flowers and flower heads are the main organs inthe production of essential oil. The essential improvement goals of chamomile are considered to be high flower yield and oil content, as well asthe suitability for mechanical harvesting. The present study aimed to improve the flower yield, oil content and mechanical harvestability of German chamomile via chemical and physical mutagens. Three German chamomile populations (Fayum, Benysuif and Menia) were irradiated with 100, 200, 300 and 400 Gray doses of gamma rays, as well as chemically mutagenized using 0.001, 0.002 and 0.003 mol/mL of sodium azide for 4 h. The two mutagens produced a wide range of changes in the flowers' shape and size. At M3 generation, 18 mutants (11 from gamma irradiation and 7 from sodium azide mutagenization) were selected and morphologically characterized. Five out of eighteen mutants were selected for morphological and chemical characterization for oil content, oil composition and oil quality in M4 generation. Two promising mutants, F/LF5-2-1 and B/HNOF 8-4-2, were selected based on their performance in most studied traits during three generations, as well as the high percentage of cut efficiency and a homogenous flower horizon, which qualify them as suitable candidates for mechanical harvesting. The two mutants are late flowering elite mutants; the F/LF5-2-1 mutant possessed the highest oil content (1.77%) and number of flowers/plant (1595), while the second promising B/HNOF 8-4-2 mutant hada high oil content (1.29%) and chamazulene percentage (13.98%) compared to control plants. These results suggest that the B/HNOF 8-4-2 and F/LF5-2-1 mutants could be integrated as potential parents into breeding programs for a high number of flowers, high oil content, oil composition and oil color traits for German chamomile improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasser E. Ghareeb
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
| | - Said S. Soliman
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
| | - Tarek A. Ismail
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
| | - Mohammed A. Hassan
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
| | - Mohammed A. Abdelkader
- Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
| | | | - Jameel M. Al-Khayri
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
| | - Salha M. ALshamrani
- Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21959, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fatmah A. Safhi
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed F. Awad
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Diaa Abd El-Moneim
- Department of Plant Production, (Genetic Branch), Faculty of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, El-Arish 45511, Egypt
| | - Abdallah A. Hassanin
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
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Hassanin AA, Osman A, Atallah OO, El-Saadony MT, Abdelnour SA, Taha HSA, Awad MF, Elkashef H, Ahmed AE, Abd El-Rahim I, Mohamed A, Eldomiaty AS. Phylogenetic comparative analysis: Chemical and biological features of caseins (alpha-S-1, alpha-S-2, beta- and kappa-) in domestic dairy animals. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:952319. [PMID: 36187819 PMCID: PMC9519386 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.952319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Caseins determine the physicochemical, physiological, and biological characteristics of milk. Four caseins—alpha-S-1, alpha-S-2, beta, and kappa—were analyzed phylogenetically and in silico and characterized regarding chemical, antimicrobial, and antioxidant features in five dairy animals: Arabian camels, sheep, goats, cattle, and water buffalos. The sequence of full-length amino acids of the four caseins for the five species was retracted from the NCBI GenBank database. Multiple sequence alignment is used to examine further the candidate sequences for phylogenetic analysis using Clustal X and NJ-Plot tools. The results revealed that sheep and goats possess strong similarities (98.06%) because of their common ancestor. The same was observed with cattle and water buffalos (96.25%). The Arabian camel was located in a single subclade due to low similarity in casein residues and compositions with other dairy animals. Protein modeling showed that alpha-S1- and alpha-S2-caseins possess the highest number of phosphoserine residues. The in silico computed chemical properties showed that β-casein recorded highest hydrophobicity index and lowest basic amino acid content, while α-S2-casein showed the opposite. The computed biological parameters revealed that α-S2-casein presented the highest bactericidal stretches. Only Arabian camel β-casein and k-casein showed one bactericidal stretches. The analysis also revealed that β-casein, particularly in Arabian camels, possesses the highest antioxidant activity index. These results support the importance of the bioinformatics resources to determine milk casein micelles' chemical and biological activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdallah A. Hassanin
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
- *Correspondence: Abdallah A. Hassanin
| | - Ali Osman
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Osama Osman Atallah
- Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Mohamed T. El-Saadony
- Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
- Mohamed T. El-Saadony
| | - Sameh A. Abdelnour
- Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Heba S. A. Taha
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Mohamed F. Awad
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hany Elkashef
- Dairy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ahmed Ezzat Ahmed
- Department of Biology, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
| | - Ibrahim Abd El-Rahim
- Department of Environmental and Health Research, Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
- Infectious Diseases, Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Asyut, Egypt
| | | | - Ahmed S. Eldomiaty
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
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Al-Khayri JM, Mahdy EMB, Taha HSA, Eldomiaty AS, Abd-Elfattah MA, Abdel Latef AAH, Rezk AA, Shehata WF, Almaghasla MI, Shalaby TA, Sattar MN, Ghazzawy HS, Awad MF, Alali KM, Jain SM, Hassanin AA. Genetic and Morphological Diversity Assessment of Five Kalanchoe Genotypes by SCoT, ISSR and RAPD-PCR Markers. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 11:plants11131722. [PMID: 35807674 PMCID: PMC9268761 DOI: 10.3390/plants11131722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/25/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Determining the appropriate parents for breeding programs is the most important decision that plant breeders must make to maximize the genetic variability and produce excellent recombinant genotypes. Several methods are used to identify genotypes with desirable phenotypic features for breeding experiments. In this study, five kalanchoe genotypes were morphologically characterized by assessing plant height, number of inflorescences, number of flowers, flower length, flower diameter and number of petals. The analysis showed the distinction of yellow kalanchoe in the plant height trait, while the orange kalanchoe was distinguished in the number of inflorescences, the number of flowers and flower length traits, whereas the violet kalanchoe possessed the largest flower diameter and the highest number of petals. The molecular profiling was performed by random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and start codon targeted (SCoT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tools. Genomic DNA was extracted from young leaves and the PCR reactions were performed using ten primers for each SCoT, ISSR and RAPD marker. Only four out of ten primers showed amplicon profiles in all PCR markers. A total of 70 bands were generated by SCoT, ISSR and RAPD-PCR with 35 polymorphic bands and 35 monomorphic bands. The total number of bands of RAPD, ISSR and SCoT was 15, 17 and 38, respectively. The polymorphism percentages achieved by RAPD, ISSR and SCoT were 60.25%, 15% and 57%, respectively. The cluster analysis based on morphological data revealed two clusters. Cluster I consisted of violet and orange kalanchoe, and cluster II comprised red, yellow and purple kalanchoe. Whereas the cluster analysis based on molecular data revealed three clusters. Cluster I included only yellow kalanchoe, cluster II comprised orange and violet kalanchoe while cluster III comprised red, and purple kalanchoe. The study concluded that orange, violet and yellow kalanchoe are distinguished parents for breeding economically valued traits in kalanchoe. Also, the study concluded that SCoT and RAPD markers reproduced reliable banding patterns to assess the genetic polymorphism among kalanchoe genotypes that consider the basis stone for genetic improvements in ornamental plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jameel M. Al-Khayri
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; (A.A.R.); (W.F.S.); (K.M.A.)
- Correspondence: (J.M.A.-K.); (A.A.H.A.L.); (A.A.H.)
| | - Ehab M. B. Mahdy
- National Gene Bank (NGB), Agricultural Research Centre (ARC), Giza 12613, Egypt;
| | - Heba S. A. Taha
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt; (H.S.A.T.); (A.S.E.)
| | - Ahmed S. Eldomiaty
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt; (H.S.A.T.); (A.S.E.)
| | | | - Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt
- Correspondence: (J.M.A.-K.); (A.A.H.A.L.); (A.A.H.)
| | - Adel A. Rezk
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; (A.A.R.); (W.F.S.); (K.M.A.)
| | - Wael F. Shehata
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; (A.A.R.); (W.F.S.); (K.M.A.)
| | - Mustafa I. Almaghasla
- Department of Arid Land Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; (M.I.A.); (T.A.S.)
- Plant Pests, and Diseases Unit, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
| | - Tarek A. Shalaby
- Department of Arid Land Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; (M.I.A.); (T.A.S.)
- Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh 33516, Egypt
| | - Muhammad N. Sattar
- Central Laboratories, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Hesham S. Ghazzawy
- Date Palm Research Center of Excellence, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Mohamed F. Awad
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Khalid M. Alali
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia; (A.A.R.); (W.F.S.); (K.M.A.)
| | - Shri Mohan Jain
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland;
| | - Abdallah A. Hassanin
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt; (H.S.A.T.); (A.S.E.)
- Correspondence: (J.M.A.-K.); (A.A.H.A.L.); (A.A.H.)
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Laghdaf SM, El Baraa A, Mohamed Beydjeu A. Characterization of a cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant, in Mauritania. LA TUNISIE MEDICALE 2022; 100:217-221. [PMID: 36005913 PMCID: PMC9387648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To describe the epidemiological and genomic profile of COVID-19 during the 4th epidemic wave in Mauritania. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study in Mauritania, from October 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022. Were included all people in the process of travel, performing an RT-PCR, at the level of the National Research Institute in Public Health and patients who have been sampled for sequencing by teams from the Department of Strategic Information and Epidemiological Surveillance. RESULTS Out of 37,574 RT-PCR tests collected on March 3, 2022, during the study period, 1,465 cases were diagnosed positive for COVID-19 (3.9%), with an average age of 39±14,6 years and a sex ratio of 2.08. Of the 112 genomic sequences performed, 75 were of the Omicron variant (66.9%). The average age was 40±15 years, with extremes of 15 to 82 years and a sex ratio of 0.97. The vaccination status was assured in 67.7% of patients and the peak of the Omicron variant was reached during the first week of January 2022. CONCLUSION The Omicron variant was predominant during the 4th wave in Mauritania. As part of its response plan against COVID-19, the installation of new sequencing units inside the country and the strengthening of the training of technicians in the virology laboratory will be essential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sidi Mohamed Laghdaf
- 1. Professeur assistant de Santé Publique, à la Faculté de Médecine de Nouakchott. Directeur de l’Institut National de Recherche en Santé Publique (INRSP) en Mauritanie
| | - Ahmed El Baraa
- 2. Professeur assistant de Parasitologie à la Faculté de Médecine de Nouakchott (Mauritanie)
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Assessment of the R2R3 MYB gene expression profile during tomato fruit development using in silico, quantitative and semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Saudi J Biol Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.02.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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