Abstract Diversity patterns of tropical alpine vegetation is poorly studied. We estimated vascular plant floristic richness for two typical afro-alpine communities in Mount Kenya using a series of nested plots sized from 25 to 100 m2. The α-diversity was low for all plot sizes (4.8–7.8 and 12.8 species per one and 100 m2, respectively). Comparative analysis of α-, β- and γ-diversity across 22 plant communities from five Mountain regions (Mount Kenya, European Alps, Caucasus, Tibet, New...
Abstract Camels are increasingly becoming the livestock of choice for pastoralists reeling from effects of climate change in semi-arid and arid parts of Kenya. As the population of camels rises, better understanding of their role in the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases in Kenya is a public health priority. Rift Valley fever (RVF), brucellosis and Q fever are three of the top priority diseases in the country but the involvement of camels in the transmission dynamics of these diseases is poor...
Abstract/Overview Approximations of fixed points have been done in different space and classes. However, characterizations in norm attainable classes remain interesting. This paper discusses approximation of nonexpansive operators in Hilbert spaces in terms of fixed points. In particular, we prove that for an invariant subspace H0 of a complex Hilbert space H; there exists a unique nonexpansive retraction R of H0 onto _(Q) and x 2 H0 such that the sequence f_ng generated by _n =_nf(_n)+(1...
Abstract Lake Magadi is an alkaline saline Lake in Kenya, which lies on the Great Eastern Rift valley. Although the lake is characterized by extremes of salt, pH and temperature, it supports diverse groups of cyanobacteria. In this study, we used different media to isolate novel groups of cyanobacteria. We recovered 11 isolates affiliated to the orders Chroococcales, Oscillatoriales, Pleurocapsales and Nostocales. Isolates affiliated to Chroococcidiopsis species had similarity values below 9...
Abstract Mycobacterium abscessus is intrinsically resistant to most antimicrobial agents. The emerging infections caused by M. abscessus and the lack of effective treatment call for rapid attention. Here, we intended to construct a selectable marker-free autoluminescent M. abscessus strain (designated UAlMab) as a real-time reporter strain to facilitate the discovery of effective drugs and regimens for treating M. abscessus. The UAlMab strain was constructed using the dif/Xer recombinase sys...
Abstract Lipids are hydrocarbons comprised of long‐chain fatty acids and are found in all living things. In the environment, microorganisms degrade them to obtain energy using esterases and lipases. These enzymes are nowadays used in different industrial applications. We report isolation of 24 bacteria with esteresic and lipolytic activity from Lake Magadi, Kenya. The isolates were characterised using morphological, biochemical, and molecular methods. Isolates grew at an optimum salt conce...
Abstract Background: Total community rDNA was used to determine the diversity of bacteria and archaea from water, wet sediment and microbial mats samples of hot springs in the Eastern lowlands of Eritrea. The temperatures of the springs range from 49.5 °C to 100 °C while pH levels varied from 6.97 to 7.54. Akwar and Maiwooi have high carbonate levels. The springs near the seashore, Garbanabra and Gelti, are more saline with higher levels of sodium and chlorides. Elegedi, situated in the Al...
Abstract Background and Objective: Tropical maize is the most cultivated crop in sub-Saharan Africa and is a staple food to over 220 million people. This study, evaluated the competence of four tropical maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines to callus induction and regeneration through somatic embryogenesis when co-cultivated on yeast extract peptone medium (YEP). Materials and Methods: Transient GUS assay was used to evaluate the competence of the genotypes to Agrobacterium-mediated transformatio...
Abstract Eritrea has a number of hot springs whose physicochemical characteristics are not documented. This study examined the thermal and chemical features of five hot springs located in the eastern escarpment of Eritrea. Field data and water samples were collected from five hot springs namely; Akwar and Maiwooi near Gahtelai, Garbanabra and Gelti near Irafayle at the Gulf of Zula and Elegedi in Alid volcanic center. The water temperatures at source varied from 49.5°C to 100°C while pH le...
Abstract Ethionamide (ETA) and prothionamide (PRO) are interchangeably used in tuberculosis (TB) chemotherapy regimens. Subtle discrepancies between biochemical and genetic information on the modes of sensitivity and resistance of isoniazid (INH) and ETA warrants further studies. We report a new mutation – EthAW21R – in Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin that corresponds with co-resistance to both PRO and ETA, which to the best of our knowledge has not been reported before. Ou...
Abstract Amphibians are sensitive to changes in the environment and are, therefore, excellent indicators of success in restoring degraded habitats. As such, a clear understanding on how amphibian populations respond to changes in the environment is required. In order for conservationists to establish if the declining trends are changing, biodiversity recovery studies are essential especially in reclaimed habitats. This study focused on the recovery of amphibians, particularly on frogs, in re...
Abstract Comparing of morphological character variation within taxa continues to play an important role in improving species inventories. Using morphometrical and non-meristic morphological adult characters, the diversity of the genus Ptychadena in Taita Hills was studied. Comparative material from elsewhere was not used, and therefore species names were only provisionally allocated to the taxa identified. Available names were discussed on the basis of comparisons with morphological data fro...
Abstract Background: Lake Magadi and little Magadi are hypersaline, alkaline lakes situated in the southern part of Kenyan Rift Valley. Solutes are supplied mainly by a series of alkaline hot springs with temperatures as high as 86 °C. Previous culture-dependent and culture-independent studies have revealed diverse groups of microorganisms thriving under these conditions. Previous culture independent studies were based on the analysis of 16S rDNA but were done on less saline lakes. For the ...
Abstract The candidate Division MSBL1 (Mediterranean Sea Brine Lakes 1) comprises a monophyletic group of uncultured archaea found in different hypersaline environments. Previous studies propose methanogenesis as the main metabolism. Here, we describe a metabolic reconstruction of MSBL1 based on 32 single-cell amplified genomes from Brine Pools of the Red Sea (Atlantis II, Discovery, Nereus, Erba and Kebrit). Phylogeny based on rRNA genes as well as conserved single copy genes delineates the...
Abstract Bacteria are a very diverse group of organisms in soil, and major taxonomic groups are represented in most soils. The extent of the diversity of microorganisms in soil is seen to be critical to the maintenance of soil health and quality, since a wide range of bacteria are involved in the important soil functions. The objectives of this study were to isolate, characterise morphologically bacteria that are associated with soil quality in tea growing areas of Ngere. Thirty eight isolat...