COVID‐19 pandemic has affected over 100 countries in a matter of weeks. People's response toward social distancing in the emerging pandemic is uncertain. In this study, we evaluated the influence of information (formal and informal) sources on situational awareness of the public for adopting health‐protective behaviors such as social distancing. For this purpose, a questionnaire‐based survey was conducted. The hypothesis proposed suggests that adoption of social distancing practices is an outcome of situational awareness which is achieved by the information sources. Results suggest that information sources, formal (P = .001) and informal (P = 0.007) were found to be significantly related to perceived understanding. Findings also indicate that social distancing is significantly influenced by situational awareness, P = .000. It can, therefore, be concluded that an increase in situational awareness in times of public health crisis using formal information sources can significantly increase the adoption of protective health behavior and in turn contain the spread of infectious diseases.
Begomoviruses (family Geminiviridae) are single-stranded DNA viruses transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Many economically important diseases in crops are caused by begomoviruses, particularly in tropical and subtropical environments. These include the betasatellite-associated begomoviruses causing cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) that causes significant losses to a mainstay of the economy of Pakistan, cotton. RNA interference (RNAi) or gene silencing is a natural defense response of plants against invading viruses. In counter-defense, viruses encode suppressors of gene silencing that allow them to effectively invade plants. Here, we have analyzed the ability of the begomovirus Cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMV) and its associated betasatellite, Cotton leaf curl Multan β-satellite (CLCuMB) which, together, cause CLCuD, and the nonessential alphasatellite (Cotton leaf curl Multan alphasatellite [CLCuMA]) for their ability to suppress gene silencing in Nicotiana benthamiana. The results showed that CLCuMV by itself was unable to efficiently block silencing. However, in the presence of the betasatellite, gene silencing was entirely suppressed. Silencing was not affected in any way when infections included CLCuMA, although the alphasatellite was, for the first time, shown to be a target of RNA silencing, inducing the production in planta of specific small interfering RNAs, the effectors of silencing. Subsequently, using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay and Northern blot analysis, the ability of all proteins encoded by CLCuMV and CLCuMB were assessed for their ability to suppress RNAi and the relative strengths of their suppression activity were compared. The analysis showed that the V2, C2, C4, and βC1 proteins exhibited suppressor activity, with the V2 showing the strongest activity. In addition, V2, C4, and βC1 were examined for their ability to bind RNA and shown to have distinct specificities. Although each of these proteins has, for other begomoviruses or betasatellites, been previously shown to have suppressor activity, this is the first time all proteins encoded by a geminiviruses (or begomovirus-betasatellite complex) have been examined and also the first for which four separate suppressors have been identified.
Highlights Educational institutes worldwide are facing closure owing to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Online mode of learning is adopted by institutes worldwide. We compared access & use of online learning among Bruneians and Pakistanis. Bruneian are more satisfied with online learning as compared to Pakistanis.
SUMMARY The yellow mosaic diseases of a number of legumes across Southern Asia are caused by four species of whitefly‐transmitted geminiviruses (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae): Mungbean yellow mosaic virus, Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus, Dolichos yellow mosaic virus and Horsegram yellow mosaic virus. They cause losses to a number of important pulse crops, a major source of dietary protein in the region. The viruses have host ranges limited to plants of the family Fabaceae and efforts to limit losses are hampered by limited availability of conventional resistance sources and/or the lack of durability of the resistance that has been identified. There is ample evidence for genetic interaction between these begomoviruses within the legumes, in the form of both classical recombination and component exchange, but little evidence for interaction with viruses that infect other plants. This is indicative of genetic isolation, the viruses in legumes evolving independently of the begomoviruses in plant species of other families. This has implications for the development of engineered resistance in legumes, which holds the promise of durability but has yet to be transferred to the field. Taxonomy: The viruses causing yellow mosaic diseases of legumes across southern Asia, four of which have been identified so far, are bipartite begomoviruses (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae): Mungbean yellow mosaic virus, Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus, Horsegram yellow mosaic virus and Dolichos yellow mosaic virus. Physical properties: The legume yellow mosaic viruses (LYMVs), like all members of the Geminiviridae, have geminate (twinned) particles, 18–20 nm in diameter, 30 nm long, apparently consisting of two incomplete T = 1 icosahedra joined together in a structure with 22 pentameric capsomers and 110 identical protein subunits. Disease symptoms: Symptoms caused by LYMVs are largely dependent on host species and susceptibility. Initially symptoms appear as small yellow specks along the veins and then spread over the leaf. In severe infections the entire leaf may become chlorotic. In blackgram the chlorotic areas sometimes turn necrotic. Infections of French bean usually do not produce a mosaic but instead induce a downward leaf curling. Disease control: Control is based mainly on preventing the establishment of the whitefly vector, Bemisia tabaci, in the crop by application of insecticides. Changes in agricultural practices, such as moving the cropping period out of periods of high vector incidence (the wet period in late summer) to times of low vector incidence (dry season in early summer) have met with some, albeit short‐term, benefits. The use of natural, host plant resistance is efficacious, although the available sources of resistance in most legume crops are limited. In mungbean the resistance is attributed to two recessive genes which are used effectively to control the disease. Useful websites: http://www.danforthcentre.org/iltab/geminiviridae/, http://www.iwglvv.org/
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