Haplotypes of CYP1B1 and CCDC57 genes in an Afro-Caribbean female population with uterine leiomyoma.

Uterine leiomyomas (UL) are prevalent benign tumors, especially among women of African ancestry. The disease also has genetic liability and is influenced by risk factors such as hormones and obesity. This study investigates the haplotypes of the Cytochrome P450 1B1 gene (CYP1B1) related to hormones and coiled-coil domain containing 57 gene (CCDC57) related to obesity in Afro-Caribbean females. Each haplotype was constructed from unphased sequence data using PHASE v.2.1 software and Haploview v.4.2 was used for linkage disequilibrium (LD) studies. There were contrasting LD observed among the single nucleotide polymorphisms of CYP1B1 and CCDC5. Accordingly, the GTA haplotype of CYP1B1 was significantly associated with UL risk (P = 0.02) while there was no association between CCDC57 haplotypes and UL (P = 0.2) for the ATG haplotype. As such, our findings suggest that the Asp449Asp polymorphism and GTA haplotype of CYP1B1 may contribute to UL susceptibility in women of Afro-Caribbean ancestry in this population.

Leu/Val SNP polymorphism of CYP1B1 and risk of uterine leiomyoma in a Black population.

Uterine leiomyoma (UL) is the most commonly occurring benign tumor that affects women of reproductive ages. Studies strongly suggest that ULs are hormonally dependent and that genes acting in estrogen metabolism might be involved in their development. The focus of this case-control study was to determine whether the Leucine432Valine single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the gene encoding cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) was associated with an increased risk of UL in Black Barbadian women. The investigation comprised 37 women clinically diagnosed with UL and 52 controls. The CYP1B1 Leu432Val polymorphism (Leu/Val) was analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The homozygous Valine432 variant (Val/Val) was predominant in both cases and controls for this population (89 and 83 %, respectively). The odds ratio for risk of developing the disease was 1.33, but this was not statistically significant. We discuss a possible protective function for CYP1B1 based on the high prevalence of this mutant SNP and its lack of association with UL.

Viral Threats to Fruit and Vegetable Crops in the Caribbean.

Viruses pose major global challenges to crop production as infections reduce the yield and quality of harvested products, hinder germplasm exchange, increase financial inputs, and threaten food security. Small island or archipelago habitat conditions such as those in the Caribbean are particularly susceptible as the region is characterized by high rainfall and uniform, warm temperatures throughout the year. Moreover, Caribbean islands are continuously exposed to disease risks because of their location at the intersection of transcontinental trade between North and South America and their role as central hubs for regional and global agricultural commodity trade. This review provides a summary of virus disease epidemics that originated in the Caribbean and those that were introduced and spread throughout the islands. Epidemic-associated factors that impact disease development are also discussed. Understanding virus disease epidemiology, adoption of new diagnostic technologies, implementation of biosafety protocols, and widespread acceptance of biotechnology solutions to counter the effects of cultivar susceptibility remain important challenges to the region. Effective integrated disease management requires a comprehensive approach that should include upgraded phytosanitary measures and continuous surveillance with rapid and appropriate responses.

Characterization of the Cassava Mycobiome in Symptomatic Leaf Tissues Displaying Cassava Superelongation Disease.

Superelongation disease (SED) is a fungal disease that affects cassava in the Caribbean. The symptoms include the appearance of dry necrotic spots and lesions on the leaves, which may severely affect the plant yield. However, the primary causal pathogen is difficult to culture and isolate in the lab because of its slow growth and potential contamination from faster-growing organisms. In addition, the leaf symptoms can be confused with those caused by other pathogens that produce similar necrotic spots and scab-like lesions. There is also little or no information on the contribution of endophytes, if any, to disease symptoms in cassava, a plant where the disease is prevalent. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the fungal communities in cassava associated with SED symptoms by analyzing gross fungal morphology and performing metagenomics profiling. First, several individual pathogenic fungi were isolated and cultured from diseased cassava leaf tissues from seven locations in Barbados (BB). Both culture isolation and molecular community analyses showed the presence of several other fungi in the disease microenvironment of symptomatic cassava leaves. These included Fusarium, Colletotrichum, and Alternaria species and the suspected species Elsinoë brasiliensis synonym Sphaceloma manihoticola. Additionally, a community analysis using ITS2 amplicon sequencing of 21 symptomatic leaf tissues from BB, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Trinidad and Tobago (TT), and Jamaica (JA) revealed that the disease symptoms of superelongation may also result from the interactions of fungal communities in the mycobiome, including Elsinoë species and other fungi such as Colletotrichum, Cercospora, Alternaria, and Fusarium. Therefore, we suggest that examining the pathobiome concept in SED in the future is necessary.

High Genetic Diversity and Structure of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides s.l. in the Archipelago of Lesser Antilles.

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a species complex of agricultural importance as it causes anthracnose disease on many crop species worldwide, and strong impact regionally on Water Yam (Dioscorea alata) in the Caribbean. In this study, we conducted a genetic analysis of the fungi complex in three islands of the Lesser Antilles-Guadeloupe (Basse Terre, Grande Terre and Marie Galante), Martinique and Barbados. We specifically sampled yam fields and assessed the genetic diversity of strains with four microsatellite markers. We found a very high genetic diversity of all strains on each island, and intermediate to strong levels of genetic structure between islands. Migration rates were quite diverse either within (local dispersal) or between islands (long-distance dispersal), suggesting important roles of vegetation and climate as local barriers, and winds as an important factor in long-distance migration. Three distinct genetic clusters highlighted different species entities, though there was also evidence of frequent intermediates between two clusters, suggesting recurrent recombination between putative species. Together, these results demonstrated asymmetries in gene flow both between islands and clusters, and suggested the need for new approaches to anthracnose disease risk control at a regional level.

Insights into the vaginal microbiome in a diverse group of women of African, Asian and European ancestries.

Background: Intra-continentally, vaginal microbiome signatures are reported to be significantly different between Black and Caucasian women, with women of African ancestry having the less well defined heterogenous bacterial community state type (CST) deficient of Lactobacillus species (CST IV). The objective of this study was to characterize the vaginal microbiomes across a more diverse intercontinental group of women (N = 151) of different ethnicities (African American, African Kenyan, Afro-Caribbean, Asian Indonesian and Caucasian German) using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis to determine their structures and offer a comprehensive description of the non-Lactobacillus dominant CSTs and subtypes. Results: In this study, the bacterial composition of the vaginal microbiomes differed significantly among the ethnic groups. Lactobacillus spp. (L. crispatus and L. iners) dominated the vaginal microbiomes in African American women (91.8%) compared to European (German, 42.4%), Asian (Indonesian, 45.0%), African (Kenyan, 34.4%) and Afro-Caribbean (26.1%) women. Expanding on CST classification, three subtypes of CST IV (CST IV-A, IV-B and IV-C) (N = 56, 37.1%) and four additional CSTs were described: CST VI Gardnerella vaginalis-dominant (N = 6, 21.8%); CST VII (Prevotella-dominant, N = 1, 0.66%); CST VIII (N = 9, 5.96%), resembling aerobic vaginitis, was differentiated by a high proportion of taxa such as Enterococcus, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus (relative abundance [RA] > 50%) and CST IX (N = 7, 4.64%) dominated by genera other than Lactobacillus, Gardnerella or Prevotella (e.g., Bifidobacterium breve and Anaerococcus vaginalis). Within the vaginal microbiomes, 32 "taxa with high pathogenic potential" (THPP) were identified. Collectively, THPP (mean RA ~5.24%) negatively correlated (rs = -0.68, p < 2.2e-16) with Lactobacillus species but not significantly with Gardnerella/Prevotella spp. combined (r = -0.13, p = 0.1). However, at the individual level, Mycoplasma hominis exhibited moderate positive correlations with Gardnerella (r = 0.46, p = 2.6e-09) and Prevotella spp. (r = 0.47, p = 1.4e-09). Conclusions: These findings while supporting the idea that vaginal microbiomes vary with ethnicity, also suggest that CSTs are more wide-ranging and not exclusive to any particular ethnic group. This study offers additional insight into the structure of the vaginal microbiome and contributes to the description and subcategorization of non-Lactobacillus-dominated CSTs.

Folk nomenclature and traditional knowledge of breadfruit [Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg] diversity in four Anglophone Caribbean countries.

BACKGROUND: Since its introduction to the Anglophone Caribbean in 1793, breadfruit has had a diverse history in the region, and there is a considerable repository of traditional knowledge about the crop, that is undocumented. Consequently, it remains underutilized as a food source, despite recognition of its potential to contribute to food and nutrition security. Understanding the folk taxonomy and traditional knowledge associated with its diversity and uses is a prerequisite to develop programs for its commercial production and utilization. METHOD: This study was conducted among 170 respondents who were selected across four Anglophone Caribbean countries and provided information on the ethnobotany and traditional knowledge associated with breadfruit biodiversity, including systems of naming, identification and classification of breadfruit cultivars or types. RESULTS: Breadfruit has socio-cultural and economic value and is produced for both home use and sale by most respondents (68%). The genetic diversity of breadfruit managed by the respondents is also important, as a total of 51 vernacular names were identified, with nine of those names recorded for the first time in this study. Breadfruit types were identified by morphological and agronomical characteristics, with other important traits relating to use and cooking quality. Classification of breadfruit cultivars or types was based on eating-quality, most suitable methods of preparation and ease of cooking. CONCLUSION: The ethnobotanical and traditional knowledge obtained from this study may be useful in assessing the genetic diversity of breadfruit and guiding future community-based conservation and classification studies of this important crop resource in the Caribbean. This is crucial to support the commercialization of breadfruit to improve its contribution to food and nutrition security.

Sampling from four geographically divergent young female populations demonstrates forensic geolocation potential in microbiomes.

Studies of human microbiomes using new sequencing techniques have increasingly demonstrated that their ecologies are partly determined by the lifestyle and habits of individuals. As such, significant forensic information could be obtained from high throughput sequencing of the human microbiome. This approach, combined with multiple analytical techniques demonstrates that bacterial DNA can be used to uniquely identify an individual and to provide information about their life and behavioral patterns. However, the transformation of these findings into actionable forensic information, including the geolocation of the samples, remains limited by incomplete understanding of the effects of confounding factors and the paucity of diverse sequences. We obtained 16S rRNA sequences of stool and oral microbiomes collected from 206 young and healthy females from four globally diverse populations, in addition to supporting metadata, including dietary and medical information. Analysis of these microbiomes revealed detectable geolocation signals between the populations, even for populations living within the same city. Accounting for other lifestyle variables, such as diet and smoking, lessened but does not remove the geolocation signal.

Varietal Dynamics and Yam Agro-Diversity Demonstrate Complex Trajectories Intersecting Farmers' Strategies, Networks, and Disease Experience.

Loss of varietal diversity is a worldwide challenge to crop species at risk for genetic erosion, while the loss of biological resources may hinder future breeding objectives. Loss of varieties has been mostly investigated in traditional agricultural systems where variety numbers are dramatically high, or for most economically important crop species for which comparison between pre-intensive and modern agriculture was possible. Varietal dynamics, i.e., turnover, or gains and losses of varieties by farmers, is nevertheless more rarely studied and while we currently have good estimates of genetic or varietal diversity for most crop species, we have less information as to how on farm agro-diversity changes and what cause its dynamics. We therefore investigated varietal dynamics in the agricultural yam system in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. We interviewed producers about varieties they cultivated in the past compared to their current varieties, in addition to characterizing yam cropping characteristics and both farm level and producers socio-economic features. We then used regression tree analyses to investigate the components of yam agro-diversity, varietal dynamics and impact of anthracnose on varieties. Our data demonstrated that no dramatic loss of varieties occurred within the last decades. Cultivation changes mostly affected widespread cultivars while frequency of uncommon varieties stayed relatively stable. Varietal dynamics nevertheless followed sub-regional patterns, and socio-economic influences such as producer age or farm crop diversity. Recurrent anthracnose epidemics since the 1970s did not alter varietal dynamics strongly, but sometimes translated into transition from Dioscorea alata to less susceptible species or into a decrease of yam cultivation. Factors affecting changes in agro-diversity were not relating to agronomy in our study, and surprisingly there were different processes delineating short term from long term varietal dynamics, independently of disease risk. Our results highlighted the importance of understanding varietal dynamics, an often overlooked component of agriculture sustainability, in addition to evolutionary forces shaping agro-diversity and genetic diversity distribution within crops. It is also crucial to understand how processes involved do scale up worldwide and for different crop species, so as not to mislead on-farm conservation efforts and efficacy of agro-diversity preservation.

Distribution of CYP17α polymorphism and selected physiochemical factors of uterine leiomyoma in Barbados.

Uterine leiomyoma is a major reproductive health disease among women and in particular Black women. The present study sought to determine whether a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of CYP17 (rs743572) was associated with the risk of developing uterine leiomyoma (UL) in affected women in Barbados; a majority Black population. It also sought to determine if BMI, waist circumference and oestradiol levels were associated with UL in this group. A total of 96 random persons were assessed in a case-control study using a PCR-RFLP assay, and measurements of body mass index, waist circumference, and oestradiol levels were also assessed. Our results showed no genetic association with the risk of UL and this gene. The genetic distribution of CYP 17α- alleles resembled a normal Hardy-Weinberg distribution, and a relatively low risk of 0.25 at a confidence interval at 95%, of UL disease development. However, a significant association was found between oestradiol levels and fibroids, as well as oestradiol levels and BMI, at P < 0.05 among cases. Therefore our study indicates that significant associations between physiochemical factors comprising BMI, waist circumference, and oestrogen levels are disease indicators in this population. In conclusion, our findings suggest that obesity and its associated risk factors are important in a majority Black Caribbean population, although the sample size needs to be increased.