Biology subjects

Emmanuel, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Emmanuel, E..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Aedes vittatus in Haiti: continued expansion across the Caribbean and implications for the Americas

BackgroundAedes vittatus, an emerging invasive species and arboviral vector with high ecological plasticity and dispersal capacity, is expanding in the Caribbean, being detected in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica and recently in Yucatan, Mexico. ObjectivesThis study aimed to provide evidence of the establishment of Ae. vittatus in Haiti. MethodsLarval surveys were done across 12 localities around Cap-Haitien, in the North-East department of Haiti, the specimens were identified morphologically and confirmed by COI DNA barcoding. FindingsWe report, for the first time, the detection of the invasive vector Aedes (Fredwardsius) vittatus in Haiti, confirmed morphologically and molecularly, and being established in half of the municipalities sampled. Phylogenetic analyses group Haitian specimens with Caribbean and American populations, closely related to Mexico, indicating regional expansion. Main conclusionGiven its role as a vector of chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever, strengthened entomological surveillance and early detection in North America and the Caribbean are urgently needed.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2026

Context-dependent determinants of CRISPR-Cas9 editing efficiency revealed through cross-species endogenous editing analysis

Accurate prediction of CRISPR-Cas9 guide RNA (gRNA) editing efficiency remains limited, particularly outside human systems, where models trained on exogenous human datasets show poor generalization. We analyzed Cas9 efficiency and repair outcomes using novel endogenous editing data from four human cell types, two tomato cell types, and cells from giant river prawn and black soldier fly. While integrating publicly available predictors via ensemble frameworks improved performance, our analysis revealed hundreds of novel features affecting activity. Crucially, dominant features related to sites competition for gRNA, and local geometric properties varied across systems, highlighting the strong context dependence of Cas9 efficiency and arguing against a universal model. Interestingly, codon usage bias-based features also emerged as informative predictors, as they are proxies for chromatin accessibility. In contrast, trends in repair outcomes remained conserved. This work provides essential resources for more generalizable CRISPR guide design.

synthetic biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Experimental flooding impacts soil biogeochemistry but not aboveground vegetation in a coastal forest

Rising sea levels and intensifying storms increase flooding pressure on coastal forests, triggering tree mortality, ecosystem transitions, and changes to the coastal carbon cycle. However, the mechanisms that drive coastal forest mortality remain elusive due to the complex interplay between belowground and aboveground processes during flooding disturbances and limitations of observations typically reported in coastal forest mortality studies. We used an ecosystem-scale manipulation to simulate hurricane-level flooding of a coastal forest. Monitoring real-time soil conditions and tree physiological responses, we observed consistent impacts on soil biogeochemistry aligned with belowground drivers of tree mortality, but no consistent responses in aboveground vegetation. Our findings provide unprecedented empirically based insight into the earliest stages of a hypothesized forest mortality spiral and offer critical benchmarks for predicting coastal forest resilience in the face of accelerating climate change. Significance StatementChanging sea levels and storms are causing more flooding in coastal forests. This flooding kills trees, changing how coastal ecosystems function, but we do not fully understand what factors determine whether forests survive flooding. We designed an ecosystem-scale experiment to answer this question, with controlled saltwater and freshwater floods equivalent to a hurricane in experimental forest plots. Flooding quickly changed soil conditions, but we have not yet observed consistent tree stress responses. Our study provides the most detailed measurements to date of how coastal forests respond to flooding in real time. These findings will help us better understand the early mechanisms and warning signs of forests threatened by flooding.

systems biology↗