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A total of 14 Rhizobium strains were isolated from lentil accessions grown at the ICARDA experimental research station at Marchouch in Morocco and used for molecular characterization and symbiotic efficiency assessment. Individual phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene, house-keeping genes rpoB, recA, and gyrB, and symbiotic genes nodD and nodA along with Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA) of the concatenated genes (16S rRNA-rpoB-recA-gyrB) was carried out for the identification and clustering of the isolates. The symbiotic efficiency of the strains was assessed on three Moroccan lentil cultivars (Bakria, Chakkouf, and Zaria) based on the number of nodules, plant height, plant dry weight, and total nitrogen content in leaves. The results showed that the individual phylogenetic analysis clustered all the strains into Rhizobium laguerreae and Rhizobium leguminosarum with sequence similarity ranging from 94 to 100%, except one strain which clustered with Mesorhizobium huakuii with sequence similarity of 100%. The MLSA of the concatenated genes and the related percentages of similarity clustered these strains into two groups of Rhizobium species, with one strain as a new genospecies when applying the threshold of 96%. For symbiotic efficiency, the Bakria variety showed the best association with 10 strains compared to its non-inoculated control (p-value &le, 0.05), followed by Chakkouf and Zaria. The present study concluded that the genetic diversity and the symbiotic efficiency of Rhizobium strains appeared to be mainly under the control of the lentil genotypes.

A total of 14 Rhizobium strains were isolated from lentil accessions grown at the ICARDA experimental research station at Marchouch in Morocco and used for molecular characterization and symbiotic efficiency assessment. Individual phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene, house-keeping genes rpoB, recA, and gyrB, and symbiotic genes nodD and nodA along with Multilocus Sequence Analysis (MLSA) of the concatenated genes (16S rRNA-rpoB-recA-gyrB) was carried out for the identification and clustering of the isolates. The symbiotic efficiency of the strains was assessed on three Moroccan lentil cultivars (Bakria, Chakkouf, and Zaria) based on the number of nodules, plant height, plant dry weight, and total nitrogen content in leaves. The results showed that the individual phylogenetic analysis clustered all the strains into Rhizobium laguerreae and Rhizobium leguminosarum with sequence similarity ranging from 94 to 100%, except one strain which clustered with Mesorhizobium huakuii with sequence similarity of 100%. The MLSA of the concatenated genes and the related percentages of similarity clustered these strains into two groups of Rhizobium species, with one strain as a new genospecies when applying the threshold of 96%. For symbiotic efficiency, the Bakria variety showed the best association with 10 strains compared to its non-inoculated control (p-value ≤ 0.05), followed by Chakkouf and Zaria. The present study concluded that the genetic diversity and the symbiotic efficiency of Rhizobium strains appeared to be mainly under the control of the lentil genotypes.

Species A rotaviruses (RVAs) are a leading cause of diarrhea in children and in the young of a large variety of mammalian and avian host species. The purpose of this study was to identify RVA in nomadic goats and calves during severe diarrhea outbreaks in 2012 and 2014 in Bouaarfa, Morocco, and to characterize the complete genomic constellation of two bovine and caprine strains (S18 and S19) and their genetic relatedness with the human strain ma31 detected in 2011 in Morocco. Partial nucleotide sequencing of VP4 and VP7 genes for the twenty-two positive samples revealed three circulating genotypes: G6P[14], G10P[14], and G10P[5] with predominance of G6P[14] genotype. Full-genome sequencing for both strains S18 and S19 presented, respectively, the following genomic constellations: G6-P[14]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A3-N2-T6-E2-H3 and G10-P[14]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A11-N2-T6-E2-H3. Phylogenetic analyses and the analysis of the VP8* antigenic epitopes for S18, S19 and ma31 revealed a shared similarity with bovine, caprine, ovine and human strains from Morocco and other countries. The VP2 and NSP1 genes of the S19 strain were closely related to those of the cognate genes of the human ma31 strain, while the VP4 gene of S18 strain was closely related to the cogent gene of the ma31 strain. Our findings revealed cases of zoonotic transmission and confirmed the risk of emergence of new genotypes in some environments such as nomadic regions, where close physical proximity between human and livestock is common. The present study is novel in reporting whole-genome analyses of RVA isolates obtained from nomadic livestock in Morocco. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11262-020-01778-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Here, we describe the characterization of the VP7 and VP4 genes of rotavirus group A (RVA) strains isolated from Moroccan infants with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) after receiving the Rotarix. Methods: Stool samples were collected from seven infants suffering with AGE. Vesikari 20-point was used while collecting the AGE information. RT-PCR followed by sequencing was employed to determine partial sequences from VP7 and VP4 encoding genes. RVA genotypes were determined using the RotaC online classification tool.The Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic tree was performed in the MEGA 6.06 software as well as the amino acid (aa) alignments of VP7 and VP8* antigenic epitopes. Results: Five children had gastroenteritis episodes defined as severe on the Vesikari scale. Analysis of VP7 gene sequences revealed five G2 and two G9 genotypes. These genotypes were associated with P[4] and P[8], respectively. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that G2 and G9 sequences grouped together with Italian strain belonging to lineage II and III respectively. Their P[4] sequences showed only 65-73% identity and grouped into two separate sub-clusters. The Moroccan P[8] isolates did not display this correlation and segregate to lineage III. The VP8* aa of P[8] when compared with that of the Rotarix vaccine, has a six aa differences. Conclusion: Although, this study does not reveal prevalence rates of RVA in infants after the vaccine introduction, it reports the detection and genetic characteristics of the G2P[4] and G9P[8] RVA types in vaccinated children in Morocco. The findings are suggestive of continuous surveillance program on rotavirus evolution in the vaccinated population.

We investigated the impact of non-genetics factors, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VKORC1, CYP2C9, CYP4F2, and GGCX on acenocoumarol dosage in Moroccan adult's patients, in order to develop an algorithm to predict acenocoumarol dose for Moroccan patients. Our study consisted of 217 Moroccan patients taking a maintenance dose of acenocoumarol for various indications. The patients were genotyped for VKORC1 -1639 GA, VKORC1 1173 CT, CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3, CYP4F2 1347 GA and GGCX 12970 CG SNPs. The statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software. The age and SNPs in VKORC1 and CYP2C9 were significantly associated with the weekly acenocoumarol dose requirement (p = 0.023, p = 0.0001 and p = 0.001 respectively). There was no association found between the weekly acenocoumarol dose and the CYP4F2 or GGCX variants (p-value0.05). Non-parametric analysis confirmed the accumulate effect of variant alleles at VKORC1 -1639 GA, VKORC1 1173 CT and CYP2C9 SNPs on the acenocoumarol dose requirement. With 90.24% less dose required for one patient carrying homozygote variant at VKORC1 -1173 (TT) and CYP2C9 *x/*x haplotype. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that mutation in VKORC1 -1639, VKORC1 1173 SNPs, or in CYP2C9 haplotype reduces the mean acenocoumarol weekly dose to 25.4%, 23.4% and 6.2%, respectively. The R2 for multiple regression analysis final model was found to be 35.9%. In this work we were able to establish the factors influencing interindividual sensitivity to the anticoagulant therapy that can help physicians to predict optimal dose requirement for long term therapy.

Sheeppox virus (SPPV) is considered a highly contagious disease in sheep by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). It is classified with Goatpox virus (GTPV) and Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) within the Capripoxvirus (CaPV) genus. SPPV causes significant economic losses in endemic regions like Northern and Central Africa, Asia, India and Middle East. In Morocco, little information about the molecular characterization of SPPV is available, hence the objective of the present study is to assess the genomic relationships between Moroccan viral strains isolated from different geographic regions during several outbreaks, vaccine strains and reference strains retrieved from the NCBI Genbank, by sequencing the P32 gene. All sequences were analyzed using MEGA7 software version 7. Phylogenetic tree constructions for this gene sequences were generated using the Neighbor-Joining method. It clearly appeared that SPPV strains reported in many countries, were branched and clustered with the clade of SPPV and displayed a strong genetic relationship between them with nucleotide and amino acid identities respectively of 99-100 % and 98-100 %. These results led us to conclude that P32 gene appears highly conserved among SPPV and Capripoxvirus. For that, more genetic studies are required in order to control and understand the epidemiological situation of SPPV.