Biology subjects

Idowu, O.

Publications and source records attributed to Idowu, O..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Mobile element-mediated carbapenem resistance in Enterobacter hormaechei in a Nigerian intensive care unit

Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria pose a critical public health threat. The role of mobile genetic elements in driving their transmission and persistence remains poorly defined. In 2022, we investigated a suspected outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) in a Nigerian adult intensive care unit (ICU), using short-read whole genome sequencing (WGS) of carbapenem-resistant clinical and environmental isolates during the cluster period. Mobile element dynamics were then inferred from hybrid assemblies of Illumina and Oxford Nanopore reads. The suspected CRAB outbreak was ruled out by WGS but a carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter hormaechei ST114 bloodstream isolate was found to be indistinguishable from two environmental isolates, all recovered during the Acinetobacter surge. Hybrid assemblies revealed a strikingly conserved [~]19 Kb resistance island shared across all ST114 genomes. The island contained a blaNDM-5 cassette alongside many other antimicrobial resistance genes, within class 1 integronns and flanked by insertions sequences, located on a 46,176 bp plasmid. Using the ST114 plasmids hybrid assembly as scaffold, the same plasmid was identified in the genome of a Klebsiella pneumoniae ST15 isolate from the ICU environment during the same period. Additionally, re-interrogation of genomic surveillance data uncovered four clonal 2020 ST109 Enterobacter bloodstream isolates from the same facility that carried the resistance genes in the same context on a large 267,242 bp plasmid. Carbapenem resistance in hospital Enterobacterales is driven by both clonal expansion and horizontal spread of mobile resistance elements. These findings underscore the need to track mobile elements alongside bacterial lineages to inform evidence-based infection control, especially in low-resource settings. Impact StatementCarbapenem resistance among Enterobacterales remains a major public health threat, yet how mobile genetic elements contribute to their persistence and spread in hospital settings is still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated a suspected outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in an adult intensive care unit in Nigeria. Although the outbreak was eventually ruled out, genomic analysis has shown the importance of careful interpretation of suspected outbreak cases in hospital settings. Our findings highlight the importance of close monitoring of ICU environments, the implementation of blood culture-based diagnostics, and the value of genomic support in outbreak investigations. These findings demonstrate that carbapenem resistance in hospital Enterobacterales is driven not only by clonal expansion but also by the horizontal dissemination of a highly stable blaNDM-5-associated MDR island capable of integrating into diverse plasmid backbones. This study emphasizes the need for genomic surveillance that tracks both mobile elements and bacterial lineages to strengthen outbreak investigations, especially in low-resource settings. It further underscores the links between clinical and environmental AMR reservoirs and reinforces the value of a One Health approach to controlling carbapenem resistance. Data summaryFASTQ sequences were deposited in the NCBI BioSample database under accession numbers SAMN55915584 - SAMN55915597.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Dorsal Hippocampus To Nucleus Accumbens Projections Drive Reinforcement Via Activation of Accumbal Dynorphin Neurons.

The hippocampus represents a key structure in the integration of emotional processing, learning and memory, and reward-related behaviors. While the ventral subdivision of the hippocampus (vHPC) is involved in processing emotional values of salient stimuli and goal-directed behaviors, the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) plays a critical role in episodic, spatial, and associative memory. In addition, it has been shown that the dHPC is necessary for context- and cue-associated reward behaviors, including the expression of reward seeking. The nucleus accumbens (NAc), a central structure in the mesolimbic reward pathway, integrates the salience of aversive and rewarding stimuli and its activity is sufficient to drive aversive and appetitive behaviors. Recent evidence has demonstrated that dHPC[->]Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) pathway is necessary for expression of a conditioned place preference. However, despite years of groundbreaking research and identification of direct projections from the dHPC to the NAc, the sufficiency for dHPC[->]NAC inputs to drive reinforcement and reward associated behavior remains to be determined. Here using a wide range of complementary and cutting-edge techniques including behavior, in-vivo manipulation using optogenetics, chemogenetics, brain clearing, local field potential and fiber photometry recordings, we demonstrate that activation of excitatory projections from the CA1 subregion of the dHPC (dCA1) is sufficient to drive reinforcing behaviors. In addition, we provide strong evidence that this reinforcing behavior is driven by 1) a direct projection from the dCA1 to the NAc and 2) enhanced glutamatergic signaling within the NAc. Furthermore, we uncovered that while dCA1 stimulation increases the activity of both enkephalin- and dynorphin-containing medium spiny neurons in the NAc, the selective activity of dynorphin-containing neurons is necessary for the expression of this reinforcing behavior. Our findings shed light on a novel pathway governing reinforcement and further extend the role of the dHPC on reward seeking.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Biotransformation of agro-industrial waste to wealth in Africa through mushroom farming

Discarding Waste in open drainages, water bodies and unauthorized dumpsites is a common practice in Africa that is deleterious to the global ecosystem. Global warming, flooding and land encroachment are direct impact of these actions. Therefore, a proposed eco-friendly solution to efficient waste management in Africa is "Mushroom Farming". The region between Latitude 6.43-7.95{degrees}N and Longitude 2.88-5.24{degrees}E (Nigeria) was the research focus. Mushroom samples were collected, identified, coded and geo-tagged in the field, while Laboratory analyses and mushroom cultivation was conducted in NIHORT and University of Ibadan. The result showed that postharvest waste (rice straw) was best for spawning (Ek1-8[->]23days, LA1-8[->]21days, OG1-8[->]20days, and OY1-8[->]22days), while agro-waste from Gliricidium sepium facilitated early pin head emergence (26days) and fruiting (28days). Also, agro-waste from Cedrela odorata facilitated early maturation (3days after fruiting), and those from Mangifera indica, G. sepium and C. odorata, improved yield (9.05g), pileus size (4.24g) and dry matter (3.01g), respectively. The Laboratory analyses showed that LA1-8 had the best N2, Na and Ca contents (13.59, 70.49 and 61.90mg/100g, respectively), while fat, fibre and carbohydrate contents were highest in samples from EK1-8 (6.60%), OS1-8 (25.13%) and OG1-8 (54.23%), respectively. Mushroom farming is the key to efficient transformation of waste to wealth in Africa.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Yoruba version of Oswestry disability index

IntroductionLow Back Pain is a common public health problem worsened by maladaptive beliefs and incongruent back pain behaviour. It is imperative to develop outcome measures to assess these beliefs among patients with chronic LBP. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and determine the psychometric properties of the Yoruba version of the ODI (ODI-Y).\n\nMethodsThe ODI-Y was cross-culturally adapted following the process involving forward translation, synthesis, backward translation, expert review, and pilot testing. One hundred and thirty-six patients with chronic LBP took part in the validation of the ODI-Y; 86 of these individuals took part in the test-retest reliability (within 1-week interval) of the translated instrument. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the ODI-Y were determined using the Cronbachs alpha and intra-class correlation. Other psychometric properties explored included the factor structure and fit, convergent validity, standard error of measurement and the minimal detectable change.\n\nResultsThe mean age of the respondents was 50.5{+/-}10.6years. The ODI-Y showed a high internal consistency, with a Cronbachs alpha () of 0.81. Test-retest of the Yoruba version of the ODI within 1-week interval yielded an Intra-Class Correlation coefficient of 0.89. The ODI-Y yielded a two-factor structure which accounted for 51.7% of the variance but showed poor fit. Convergent of ODI-Y with the visual analogue scale was moderate (r=0.30; p=0.00). The standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change of the ODI-Y were 2.0 and 5.5.\n\nConclusionsThe ODI was adapted into the Yoruba language and proved to have a good factor structure and psychometric properties that replicated the results of other obtainable versions. We recommend it for use among Yoruba speaking patients with low-back pain.

scientific communication and education↗