Phoenix in the Cape Verde Islands

The African Republic of Cape Verde consists of nine inhabited and several uninhabited volcanic islands set out in the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 km off the most westerly point of the African mainland and 1500 km south of the Canary Islands @g. 2). Most are rugged and mountainous; three (Sal, Maio, and Boavista) are flat, desert islands with sand beaches. Precipitation is meagre and very erratic; indeed Cape Verde can be seen as an island extension of the arid Sahel zone. Three species of the genus Phoenix are recorded from the Cape Verde Islands, P. akzctyli&a L., P. canariensis Chabaud and P. atlantica A. Chev. While the former two species have almost certainly been introduced by man, the latter is said to be endemic to the islands. Perhaps because the Cape Verdes are a particularly isolated set of islands or because palms are notoriously awkward to collect, little is known about the taxonomy, origins and natural history of this species. Phoenix atlantica was described by the French botanist Auguste Chevalier (1935a) following field exploration in the Cape Verdes in 1934 (Chevalier 1934: 1153). Chevalier provided limited diagnostic characters, defining the species as a clustering palm with 2-6 trunks, 5-15 m in height with dark green leaves 2-3 m in length. He considered it to be most similar in form to P. &ctyZzjkra and P. canariensis, possessing characters of both (Chevalier 1935a). Chevalier’s description indicates that Phoenix atlantica can be distinguished easily from P. canariensis by its clustering growth form (P. canariensis always has a single, stout trunk) and its shorter, straighter leaves. However, the differences between P. atlantica and P. dactylzjkra appear much more subtle. For example, while P. dacfylifera is usually observed as single-stemmed, when left undisturbed for a number of years it becomes clustering like the Cape Verde Phoenix, so this character on its own is unreliable. Further alleged distinctions include acuminate (P. atlantica) versus rounded (P. dactylzjkra) petals in the male flowers (Chevalier 1935a, b, Greuter 1967: 249, and Brochmann et al. 1997), fruit 2 cm long (P. atlantica) versus fruit more than 2.5 cm long (P. dactyl&a) (Brochmann et al.

Molecular epidemiology and evolution of HIV-1 in Portugal and portuguese speaking african countries

The aims of this thesis were to better characterize HIV-1 diversity in Portugal, Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde and to investigate the origin and epidemiological history of HIV-1 in these countries. The impact of these issues in diagnosis, disease progression and susceptibility to ARV therapy was also investigated. Finally, the nature, dynamics and prevalence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) was determined in untreated HIV-1 infected patients. In Angola, practically all HIV-1 genetic forms were found, including almost all subtypes, untypable (U) strains, CRFs and URFs. Recombinants (first and second generation) were present in 47.1% of the patients. HIV/AIDS epidemic in Angola probably started in 1961, the major cause being the independence war, subsequently spreading to Portugal. In Maputo, 81% of the patients were infected with subtype C viruses. Subtype G, U and recombinants such as CRF37_cpx, were also present. The results suggest that HIV-1 epidemic in Mozambique is evolving rapidly in genetic complexity. In Cape Verde, where HIV-1 and HIV-2 co-circulate, subtype G is the prevailed subtype. Subtypes B, C, F1, U, CRF02_AG and other recombinant strains were also found. HIV-2 isolates belonged to group A, some being closely related to the original ROD isolate. In all three countries numerous new polymorphisms were identified in the RT and PR of HIV-1 viruses. Mutations conferring resistance to the NRTIs or NNRTIs were found in isolates from 2 (2%) patients from Angola, 4 (6%) from Mozambique and 3 (12%) from Cape Verde. None of the isolates containing TDR mutations would be fully sensitive to the standard first-line therapeutic regimens used in these countries. Close surveillance in treated and untreated populations will be crucial to prevent further transmission of drug resistant strains and maximize the efficacy of ARV therapy. In Portugal, investigation of a seronegative case infection with rapid progression to AIDS and death revealed that the patient was infected with a CRF14_BG-like R5-tropic strain selectively transmitted by his seropositive sexual partner. The results suggest a massive infection with a highly aggressive CRF14_BG like strain and/or the presence of an unidentified immunological problem that prevented the formation of HIV-1-specific antibodies. Near full-length genomic sequences obtained from three unrelated patients enabled the first molecular and phylogenomic characterization of CRF14_BG from Portugal; all sequences were strongly related with CRF14_BG Spanish isolates. The mean date of origin of CRF14_BG was estimated to be 1992. We propose that CRF14_BG emerged in Portugal in the early 1990s, spread to Spain in late 1990s as a consequence of IDUs migration and then to the rest of Europe. Most CRF14_BG strains were predicted to use CXCR4 and were associated with rapid CD4 depletion and disease progression. Finally, we provide evidence suggesting that the X4 tropism of CRF14_BG may have resulted from convergent evolution of the V3 loop possibly driven by an effective escape from neutralizing antibody response.