ABSTRACT
Introduction: The SARS-CoV-19 pandemic affected the whole world, with a particularly high and severe incidence in patients with co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The SARS-CoV-2 variants, Delta and Omicron, posed an additional challenge in the management of these patients because of their virulence and high transmissibility. Objective: To assess the disturbance of certain biomarkers in COVID-19-positive T2DM patients in Pointe-Noire. Methods: We performed a descriptive cross-sectional study on a cohort of 206 type 2 diabetic patients affected by COVID-19. Blood samples were taken for analysis of biomarkers (CBC, ESR, CRP, GLY, and HbA1c, lipid profile, urea and creatinine). RNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal samples and PCR was performed to determine the presence of Delta and Omicron variants. Results: The mean age of our patients was 56.33 ± 12 years. The Delta variant was the most common 132 (64.08%), followed by the other variants 57 (27.67%) and Omicron 17 (8.25%). We observed significant disturbances (p<0.05) in biomarkers as a function of Delta and Omicron variants concerning: TC, TG, HDL, LDL, DDI, VS, CRP, GLY, and HbA1c. Conclusion: We identified the Delta variant as the most frequent in the diabetic population studied. Almost all biological markers studied were disrupted during COVID-19 infection in the type 2 diabetic population.

ABSTRACT
Curcuma longa is a widely used plant in folk medicine. Here, we assessed the antimicrobial activities of the ethanolic extract of Curcuma longa with particular emphasis on its combined effect with sunlight, as the extract can produce fluorescence in the presence of UV rays. Curcumin is one of the most active ingredients of Curcuma longa. The ethanolic extract of Curcuma longa when added to lawn cultures of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and exposed to sunlight the growth of bacteria was remarkably reduced. Micro broth dilution assay also showed decreased MIC values after exposure to sunlight with MSSA. Our results encourage the potential use of Curcuma longa as an antibacterial product.

ABSTRACT
Biotic stress is caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes as well weeds and it significantly reduces crop yield globally. For instance, the outbreak of a new strain of stripe rust in wheat worldwide, the emergence of white scale insect affecting mango in Ethiopia, the newly emerged Maize Lethal Necrosis viral disease in maize, and invasive fall armyworm insect are devastating maize crop and causing yield loss in Africa. To reduce the yield losses due to biotic stresses, the development of resistant variety and integrated insect pest approach is the way forward for managing disease and insects at respective agroecologies. Thus, this review paper discussed on conventional breeding methods and molecular-assisted selection for breeding resistance to foliar disease in major cereal crops. Wide array of germplasm such as landraces, recombinant inbred lines, pure lines, Double haploid lines, elite lines, multi-parent population, mutant lines, introgressed lines, hybrids, open population variety and wild relative can be used as source germplasm and should be screened under artificial inoculation and or at hotspot areas to develop disease resistance variety. Many maize inbred lines and hybrids showed resistance to turcicum leaf blight, grey leaf spot and common rust diseases and indicating that these genotypes have carrying genes/favorable alleles for multiple disease resistance and it is possible to develop variety resistance to fungi foliar disease in maize. Similarly, several advanced lines and some varieties showed resistance to strip and leaf rust in wheat. However, host plant resistance could be broken down due to new emerging race pathogens. Thus, conventional breeding and molecular screening should be integrated for resistant variety development. Indeed, Marker-assisted selection through backcrossing, gene pyramiding, combined Genome-Wide Association, and transcriptome approach is useful to identify candidate genes and resistant parents in crops. .......