Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes

Funder

Organizational Unit

Publications

Harmless or threatening? Interpreting the results of molecular diagnosis in the context of virus-host relationships

Publication . Abade dos Santos, F.A.; Portela, Sara J.; Nogueira, Teresa; Carvalho, Carina L.; Sousa, Rita de; Duarte, M. D.

Molecular methods, established in the 1980s, expanded and delivered tools for the detection of vestigial quantities of nucleic acids in biological samples. Nucleotide sequencing of these molecules reveals the identity of the organism it belongs to. However, the implications of such detection are often misinterpreted as pathogenic, even in the absence of corroborating clinical evidence. This is particularly significant in the field of virology where the concepts of commensalism, and other benign or neutral relationships, are still very new. In this manuscript, we review some fundamental microbiological concepts including commensalism, mutualism, pathogenicity, and infection, giving special emphasis to their application in virology, in order to clarify the difference between detection and infection. We also propose a system for the correct attribution of terminology in this context.

2021-05-21Journal article

Open access

Diversity of Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] Landraces in Mozambique: New Opportunities for Crop Improvement and Future Breeding Programs

Publication . Gomes, Ana Maria Figueira; Draper, David; Nhantumbo, Nascimento; Massinga, Rafael; Ramalho, José C.; Marques, Isabel; Ribeiro-Barros, Ana I.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a neglected crop native to Africa, with an outstanding potential to contribute to the major challenges in food and nutrition security, as well as in agricultural sustainability. Two major issues regarding cowpea research have been highlighted in recent years—the establishment of core collections and the characterization of landraces—as crucial to the implementation of environmentally resilient and nutrition-sensitive production systems. In this work, we have collected, mapped, and characterized the morphological attributes of 61 cowpea genotypes, from 10 landraces spanning across six agro-ecological zones and three provinces in Mozambique. Our results reveal that local landraces retain a high level of morphological diversity without a specific geographical pattern, suggesting the existence of gene flow. Nevertheless, accessions from one landrace, i.e., Maringué, seem to be the most promising in terms of yield and nutrition-related parameters, and could therefore be integrated into the ongoing conservation and breeding efforts in the region towards the production of elite varieties of cowpea.

2021-05Journal article

Open access