Prioritising African perspectives in psychiatric genomics research: Issues of translation and informed consent

Psychiatric genomics research with African populations comes with a range of practical challenges around translation of psychiatric genomics research concepts, procedures, and nosology. These challenges raise deep ethical issues particularly around legitimacy of informed consent, a core foundation of research ethics. Through a consideration of the constitutive function of language, the paper problematises like‐for‐like, designative translations which often involve the ‘indigenization’ of English terms or use of metaphors which misrepresent the risks and benefits of research. This paper argues that effective translation of psychiatric genomics research terminology in African contexts demands substantive engagement with African conceptual schemas and values. In developing attenuated forms of translational thinking, researchers may recognise the deeper motivational reasons behind participation in research, highlighting the possibility that such reasons may depart from the original meaning implied within informed consent forms. These translational issues might be ameliorated with a critical re‐examination of how researchers develop and present protocols to institutional ethics review boards.     

Sampling and distribution pattern of Trioza erytreae Del Guercio, 1918 (Hemiptera: Triozidae) in citrus orchard

Developing efficient sampling protocols is essential to monitor crop pests. One vector of the citrus disease HLB, the African citrus psyllid Trioza erytreae Del Guercio, 1918 (Hemiptera: Triozidae), currently threatens the lemon industry throughout the Mediterranean region. In this work, a pool of sampling methods devoted to monitoring the population of T. erytreae was compared, its spatial distribution in the orchard was assessed, and the minimum sampling effort for the best sampling method was estimated. Three lemon orchards in North-western Portugal were sampled for one year using two types of yellow sticky traps (standard yellow and fluorescent Saturn yellow), B-vac sampling and sweep net sampling. The method that best performed, in terms of cost-efficiency, was the yellow sticky traps. The two colours of the sticky traps tested did not yield a significantly different number of catches. The spatial distribution throughout the orchards was found to be aggregated towards the borders. A minimum of three sticky traps per hectare was found to be enough to estimate the population at 90% accuracy for the mean during the outbreak. These results should help to monitor and anticipate outbreaks that may even colonize neighbour orchards. Studies on the local dispersion patterns of T. erytreae throughout the orchard are mandatory to further refine and optimize efficient monitoring protocols.     

African Swine Fever Virus MGF-110-9L-deficient Mutant Has Attenuated Virulence in Pigs

African swine fever virus(ASFV) is the etiological agent of African swine fever(ASF), an often lethal disease in domestic and wild pigs. ASF represents a major threat to the swine industry worldwide. Currently, no commercial vaccine is available because of the complexity of ASFV or biosecurity concerns. Live attenuated viruses that are naturally isolated or genetically manipulated have demonstrated reliable protection against homologous ASFV strain challenge. In the present study, a mutant ASFV strain with the deletion of ASFV MGF-110-9 L(ASFV-D9 L) was generated from a highly virulent ASFV CN/GS/2018 parental strain, a genotype II ASFV. Relative to the parental ASFV isolate, deletion of the MGF-110-9 L gene significantly decreased the ability of ASFV-D9 L to replicate in vitro in primary swine macrophage cell cultures. The majority of animals inoculated intramuscularly with a low dose of ASFV-D9 L(10 HAD50) remained clinically normal during the 21-day observational period. Three of five ASFV-D9 L-infected animals displayed low viremia titers and low virus shedding and developed a strong virus-specific antibody response, indicating partial attenuation of the ASFV-D9 L strain in pigs. The findings imply the potential usefulness of the ASFV-D9 L strain for further development of ASF control measures.     

African Swine Fever Virus Protein E199L Promotes Cell Autophagy through the Interaction of PYCR2

African swine fever virus(ASFV), as a member of the large DNA viruses, may regulate autophagy and apoptosis by inhibiting programmed cell death. However, the function of ASFV proteins has not been fully elucidated, especially the role of autophagy in ASFV infection. One of three Pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductases(PYCR), is primarily involved in conversion of glutamate to proline. Previous studies have shown that depletion of PYCR2 was related to the induction of autophagy. In the present study, we found for the first time that ASFV E199 L protein induced a complete autophagy process in Vero and HEK-293 T cells. Through co-immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry(CoIP-MS)analysis, we firstly identified that E199 L interact with PYCR2 in vitro. Importantly, our work provides evidence that E199 L down-regulated the expression of PYCR2, resulting in autophagy activation. Overall, our results demonstrate that ASFV E199 L protein induces complete autophagy through interaction with PYCR2 and down-regulate the expression level of PYCR2, which provide a valuable reference for the role of autophagy during ASFV infection and contribute to the functional clues of PYCR2.