Citizen science mitigates the lack of distributional data on Nigerian birds

Citizen science projects are expanding globally, with the African continent, particularly Nigeria, registering significant growth. Here, we document and analyse novel operations of the Nigerian Bird Atlas Project (NIBAP), 2015-2022. This project has employed the use of ornithologists, mainly trained at the A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute (APLORI) located in Jos, Nigeria, and its 28 bird clubs established across Nigeria to enlist 827 bird enthusiasts that contribute regular and near real-time data about bird distribution and relative abundance in the country. Interestingly, NiBAP has recorded about 75% of the bird species known from Nigeria in only about 50% of Nigeria's total surface area, including 39 nationally threatened species. The Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus, Laughing Dove Spilopelia senegalensis, and Grey-backed Camaroptera Camaroptera brevicaudata were the most commonly recorded species, while Amurum Forest Reserve, Rennajj Fish Farm, and Obudu Cattle Ranch were the most surveyed sites during the period. Thus, our approach reveals how to increase involvement of nature enthusiasts, ornithologists, and a regional research institute to build local capacity and contribute rich information necessary to alleviate the lack of distributional data about Afrotropical avifauna. We strongly recommend our approach to boost other citizen science projects across Africa and beyond to address the huge lack of biodiversity data, create public awareness, and foster conservation education.

The pathogenic p.Gln319Ter variant is not causing congenital adrenal hyperplasia when inherited in one of the duplicated CYP21A2 genes

Objective

The study aimed to identify the pathogenic status of p.Gln319Ter (NM_000500.7: c.955C>T) variant when inherited in a single CYP21A2 gene (bimodular RCCX haplotype) and to discriminate between a non-causing congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) allele when inherited in a duplicated and functional CYP21A2 gene context (trimodular RCCX haplotype).

Methods

38 females and 8 males with hyperandrogenemia, previously screened by sequencing and identified as carriers for the pathogenic p.Gln319Ter, were herein tested by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and a real-time PCR Copy number Variation (CNV) assay.

Results

Both MLPA and real-time PCR CNV analyses confirmed a bimodular and pathogenic RCCX haplotype with a single CYP21A2 in 19/46 (41.30%) p.Gln319Ter carriers and who in parallel all shared elevated 17-OHP levels. The remaining 27 individuals that also carried the p.Gln319Ter exhibited low 17-OHP levels as a result of their carriership of a duplicated CYP21A2 with a trimodular RCCX haplotype. Interestingly, all of these individuals also carried in linkage disequilibrium with p.Gln319Ter two single nucleotide polymorphisms, the c.293-79G>A (rs114414746) in intron 2 and the c.*12C>T (rs150697472) in the 3'-UTR. Therefore, these variants can be used to distinguish between pathogenic and non-pathogenic genomic contexts of the c.955T (p.Gln319) in the genetic diagnosis of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

Conclusion

The employed methodologies identified a considerable number of individuals with non-pathogenic p.Gln319Ter from the individuals that typically carry the pathogenic p.Gln319Ter in a single CYP21A2. Therefore, it is extremely important the detection of such haplotypes for the prenatal diagnosis, treatment and genetic counseling in patients with CAH.

Supplementing a grain diet with insects instead of fruits sustains the body condition of an omnivorous bird

Omnivores utilize dietary sources which differ in nutrients, hence dietary limitations due to environmental change or habitat alteration could cause nutrient limitations, and thus deterioration of body condition if omnivory is obligate. We investigated how the body condition of the omnivorous Village weaver Ploceus cucullatus (weavers), which forages predominantly on grains, responds to the supplementation of its grain diet with insects instead of fruits. Forty wild-caught weavers held in aviaries were fed a combination of grains and fruits, or grains and insects ad libitum for 8 weeks. We determined diet preference by recording the number of birds on each diet option per minute for 1 h and the amount of food left-over after 3 h of foraging. Fortnightly, we assessed indices of body condition including body mass, pectoral muscle, and fat scores, packed cell volume (PCV), and hemoglobin concentration (HBC). We modeled the number of foragers, food left-over, and body condition indices as functions of diet, while accounting for time (weeks) and sex effects. Grains were the preferred diet, but males ate more fruits and insects than females. Weavers fed on grains and fruits lost body and pectoral muscle mass and accumulated less fat than those fed on grains and insects. This effect was sex-dependent: females supplemented with fruits lost more pectoral muscle mass than males of the same group and males but not females, supplemented with insects accumulated more fat reserve than those supplemented with fruits. PCV and HBC did not differ between diets but increased over the 8 weeks. Weavers are likely obligate rather than facultative omnivores, with insects as being a more nutritive supplement than fruits. Nutrient limitation arising from environmental change or habitat alteration could impair body condition and affect physiological function to environmental seasonality in obligate omnivores like the weavers.