We identified 27 stable loci associated with agronomic traits in spring wheat using genome-wide association analysis, some of which confirmed previously reported studies. GWAS peaks identified in regions where no QTL for grain yield per se has been mapped to date, provide new opportunities for gene discovery and creation of new cultivars with desirable alleles for improving yield and yield stability in wheat. We undertook large-scale genetic analysis to determine marker-trait associations (MTAs) underlying agronomic and physiological performance in spring wheat using genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Field trials were conducted at seven sites in three countries (Sudan, Egypt, and Syria) over 2-3 years in each country. Twenty-five agronomic and physiological traits were measured on 188 wheat genotypes. After correcting for population structure and relatedness, a total of 245 MTAs distributed over 66 loci were associated with agronomic traits in individual and mean performance across environments respectively; some of which confirmed previously reported loci. Of these, 27 loci were significantly associated with days to heading, thousand kernel weight, grain yield, spike length, and leaf rolling for mean performance across environments. Despite strong QTL by environment interactions, eight of the loci on chromosomes 1A, 1D, 5A, 5D, 6B, 7A, and 7B had pleiotropic effects on days to heading and yield components (TKW, SM, and SNS). The winter-type alleles at the homoeologous VRN1 loci significantly increased days to heading and grain yield in optimal environments, but decreased grain yield in heat prone environments. Top 20 high-yielding genotypes, ranked by additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI), had low kinship relationship and possessed 4-5 favorable alleles for GY MTAs except two genotypes, Shadi-4 and Qafzah-11/Bashiq-1-2. This indicated different yield stability mechanisms due to potentially favorable rare alleles that are uncharacterized. Our results will enable wheat breeders to effectively introgress several desirable alleles into locally adapted germplasm in developing wheat varieties with high yield stability and enhanced heat tolerance.

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Fusarium graminearum (Fg) causes Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease in wheat and barley. This pathogen produces mycotoxins including deoxynivalenol (DON), the T-2 and fumorisin B1. Translocation of the mycotoxins in grains causes important losses in yields and contributes to serious health problems in humans and livestock. We tested the Bacillus strains, two commercial, QST713 (Serenade®) and FZB24 (TAEGRO®) and one non-commercial strain EU07 as microbial biological control agents against the F. graminearum strain Fg-K1-4 both in vitro and in planta. The EU07 strain showed better performance in suppressing the growth of Fg-K1-4. Cell-free bacterial cultures displayed significant antagonistic activity on Fg-K1-4. Remarkably, heat and proteinase K treatment of bacterial broths did not reduce the antagonistic activity of Bacillus cultures. DON assays showed that Bacillus strain was not affected by the presence of DON in the media. Leaf and head infection assays using Brachypodium distachyon (Bd-21) indicated that EU07 inhibits Fg-K1-4 growth in vivo and promotes plant growth. Overall, the EU07 strain performed better, indicating that it could be explored for the molecular investigations and protection of cereal crops against FHB disease.

Ten genotypes of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) comprising of four genitors and six hybrids generated using diallel crosses were evaluated to estimate the magnitude of genetic variability,  their general combing ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) for improved growth and yield of eggplant. The results obtained showed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) difference among the genotypes in all the traits studied.  The highest fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare was obtained in ‘Yalo’ × ‘K3’ combination, with 1.77 kg per plant and 50.50 tonnes per hectare, respectively. The cluster analysis grouped the studied genotypes into three and six clusters for genitors alone and genitors with first filial generation (F1s), respectively. Principal component analysis showed that number of leaves, number of fruits and number of branches per plant contributed more to the total variations observed in the eggplant populations. Significant GCA and SCA effect were obtained for most characters analyzed, indicating the importance of both additive and non-additive genetic components. The genotype ‘Iyoyo’ was the best general combiner in regard to days to flowering and number of fruits per plant. ‘Yalo’ was the best general combiner in fruits’ circumference and diameter, fruit yield per plant and per hectare. The cross ‘Uyo’ × ‘Iyoyo’ was the best specific combiner in days to flowering, whereas ‘K3’ × ‘Iyoyo’ and ‘Yalo’ × ‘K3’ were the best specific combinations in number of fruits, fruit yield per plant and per hectare.

Nigeria had a confirmed case of COVID-19 on February 28, 2020. On March 17, 2020, the Nigerian Government inaugurated the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 to coordinate the country’s multisectoral intergovernmental response. The PTF developed the National COVID-19 Multisectoral Pandemic Response Plan as the blueprint for implementing the response plans. The PTF provided funding, coordination, and governance for the public health response and executed resource mobilization and social welfare support, establishing the framework for containment measures and economic reopening. Despite the challenges of a weak healthcare infrastructure, staff shortages, logistic issues, commodity shortages, currency devaluation, and varying state government cooperation, high-level multisectoral PTF coordination contributed to minimizing the effects of the pandemic through early implementation of mitigation efforts, supported by a strong collaborative partnership with bilateral, multilateral, and private-sector organizations. We describe the lessons learned from the PTF COVID-19 for future multisectoral public health response.

High humidity is a major constraint to increased tomato fruit production in a cool tropical monsoon climate. However, the genetic variation observed in Solanum pimpinellifolium makes it a good gene donor for breeding tomato cultivars capable of thriving under high humidity. The objective of this study was to estimate heterosis, heritability for higher yield, and to assess the adaptability of the genotypes to humid conditions. Genotypes were raised from five morphologically divergent parents, viz., wild parent (W)–“LA2093,” “CLN2498D” (D), “CLN2417H” (H), “Tima” (T), and “UC Dan INDIA” (U). The F1s were generated by biparental mating design using “LA2093” as a common pollen donor that was selfed to produce F2s and backcrossed to both parents to obtain BC1s and BC2s. The trial was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Data were collected on selected yield-influencing traits and analyzed. “D × W” and “U × W” hybrids showed significant positive better parent heterosis for fruit weight per plant (30.4% and 35.5%) and total fruit yield (48.6% and 26.9%), respectively. The additive variance was higher than dominance variance for all the traits, including total fruit yield in all hybrids viz., “H × W,” “D × W,” “T × W,” and “U × W.” High narrow sense heritability estimate of ≥60% was observed in “D × W” and “U × W” hybrids for the majority of the floral and fruit traits including total fruit yield. This makes the improvement of “D × W” and “U × W” hybrids by direct selection advantageous. Hence, the adoption of selection for the affected traits in subsequent tomato breeding programs would enhance fruit yield and adaptability to humid environments.

A multilocational evaluation of 20 soybean genotypes was conducted in two distinct locations (Nsukka in Derived Savanna agro-ecology and Jalingo in Northern Guinea Savanna) of Nigeria in 2015 and 2016 cropping seasons. The experiments were laid out in an Alpha lattice design and replicated three times in each location. The main objective of the research was to determine the genotype-by-environment interaction (G x E) for specific traits and yield stability. The results revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes and locations for all the traits except for seed yield. Genotype x environmental interaction was not significant for most of the traits except days to 50% flowering indicating relative consistency in time of flowering among the genotypes across the locations and year. The genotype, Ashuku produced the highest yield in the two locations. However, the most stable genotypes across the locations were Dadinkowa and Vom while the ideal environments were Jalingo 2016 (ENV2) and Nsukka 2016 (ENV4) which produced 14.0g and14.5g, respectively. Similarly, Akwanga was discriminated as the overall best genotype across the two locations.