Articles: Department of Biological Sciences

• The Latitudinal Biotic Interaction Hypothesis revisited contrasting latitudinal richness gradients in actively vs. passively accumulated interaction partners of honey bees 

  Cirtwill, Alyssa R.; Roslin, Tomas; Peña‑Aguilera, Pablo; Agboto, Agathe; Bercê, William; Bondarchuk, Svetlana N.; Brodschneider, Robert; Heidari, Behzad; Kaizirege, Camara; Nyaga, Justine Muhoro; Ojonugwa, Ekpah; Gomez, Gonzalo Ossa; Paz, Claudia; Pirk, Christian; Salehi‑Najafabadi, Amir; Salonen, Anneli; Soloniaina, Chantal; Wirta, Helena (UoEm, 2025)

  Contrasting hypotheses suggest that the number of biotic interactions per species couldeither increase towards the equator due to the increasing richness of potential interaction partners (Neutral theory),or decrease in ...
• Geographic Distribution of Rabies Virus and Genomic Sequence Alignment of Wild and Vaccine Strains, Kenya 

  Wambugu, Evalyne N.; Kimita, Gathii; Kituyi, Sarah N.; Washington, Michael A.; Masakhwe, Clement; Mutunga, Lucy M.; Jaswant, Gurdeep; Thumbi, S.M.; Schaefer, Brian C.; Waitumbi, John N. (UoEm, 2024-08-08)

  Rabies, a viral disease that causes lethal encephalitis, kills ≈59,000 persons worldwide annually, despite availability of effective countermeasures. Rabies is endemic in Kenya and is mainly transmitted to humans through ...
• Nutritional status of people who inject drugs in Coastal Kenya: a cross-sectional study 

  Budambula, Valentine ; Ngari, Moses ; Budambula, Nancy L.M. ; Ahmed, Abid A. ; Were, Tom  (UoeM, 2024)

  Introduction Despite documentation on injection drug use (IDU) in Kenya, the nutritional status of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) is under-explored. Elsewhere studies report under-nutrition among PWIDs which is attributed to ...
• Mapping brucellosis risk in Kenya and its implications for control strategies in sub‑Saharan Africa 

  Akoko, James M.; Mwatondo, Athman; Muturi, Mathew; Wambua, Lillian; Abkallo, Hussein M.; Nyamota, Richard; Bosire, Caroline; Oloo, Stephen; Limbaso, Konongoi S.; Gakuya, Francis; Nthiwa, Daniel; Bartlow, Andrew; Middlebrook, Earl; Fair, Jeanne; Ogutu, Joseph O.; Gachohi, John; Njenga, Kariuki; Bett, Bernard (UoEm, 2023-11-30)

  In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), effective brucellosis control is limited, in part, by the lack of long-term commitments by governments to control the disease and the absence of reliable national human and livestock population-based ...
• Seroprevalence and related risk factors of Brucella spp. in livestock and humans in Garbatula subcounty, Isiolo county, Kenya 

  Mwatondo, Athman; Nthiwa, Daniel; Muturi, Mathew; Akoko, James; Nyamota, Richard; Bett, Bernard; Omolo, Jack; Gichuhi, Stephen; Mureit, Marianne W. (Uoem, 2023-10-16)
• Seroprevalence of Brucella spp. and Rift Valley fever virus among slaughterhouse workers in Isiolo County, northern Kenya 

  Nyamota, Richard; Maina, Josphat; Mwatondo, Athman; Akoko, James; Nthiwa, Daniel; Bartlow, Andrew W.; Muturi, Mathew; Wambua, Lillian; Middlebrook, Earl A.; Bett, Bernard (UoEm, 2023-10-05)

  Brucella spp. and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) are classified as priority zoonotic agents in Kenya, based on their public health and socioeconomic impact on the country. Data on the pathogen-specific and co-exposure ...
• Ecological and Subject‐Level Drivers of Interepidemic Rift Valley Fever Virus Exposure in Humans and Livestock in Northern Kenya 

  Mathew, Muturi; Athman, Mwatondo; Nijhof, Ard M; Akoko, James; Nyamota, Richard; Makori, Anita; Mutono, Nyamai; Nthiwa, Daniel; Wambua, Lilian; Roesel, Kristina; Thumbi, S. M.; Bett, Bernard (UoEm, 2023)
• Do afroalpine plants differ from other alpine plants by their leaf functional traits? 

  Onipchenko, Vladimir G.; Kipkeev, Aliy M.; Kopylova, Natalia A.; Nyaga, Justine M.; Elumeeva, Tatiana G.; Dudova, Ksenia V.; Akhmetzhanova, Asem A.; Tiunov, Alexei V.; Karpukhin, Mikhail M.; Makarov, Mikhail I. (UoEm, 2023-06-16)

  Afroalpine plants develop under specific climate with great daily fluctuations and weak seasonal dynamics of temperature. Do leaf functional traits of the plants in Mt. Kenya differ from those of temperate plants in ...
• HIV Virologic Failure among Patients with Persistent Low-Level Viremia in Nairobi, Kenya: It Is Time to Review the >1000 Virologic Failure Threshold 

  Nzivo, Mirriam M.; Waruhiu, Cecilia N.; Kang’ethe, James M.; Budambula, Nancy L. M. (Hindawi, 2023-04-27)

  Persistent low-level viremia (PLLV) of 200-999 copies/ml has been reported as a risk factor for HIV virologic failure (VF). This retrospective study was aimed at characterizing patients with PLLV, determining factors ...
• Food web structure of nematode communities in irrigated rice fields 

  Mokuah, Dorcas; Karuri, Hannah W.; Nyaga, Justine M. (Heliyon, 2023-02)

  Nematodes are a key component of the soil food web and they play an important role in the provision of ecosystem services. Rice cultivation in Mwea, Kenya involves the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides which ...
• Amplicon-based assessment of bacterial diversity and community structure in three tropical forest soils in Kenya 

  Kenya, Eucharia U.; Kinyanjui, Grace; Kipnyargis, Alex C.; Kinyua, Franklin; Mwangi, Mary; Khamis, Fathiya; Mwirichia, Romano K. (Heliyon, 2022-11)

  Forest soils provide a multitude of habitats for diverse communities of bacteria. In this study, we selected three tropical forests in Kenya to determine the diversity and community structure of soil bacteria inhabiting ...
• Poly-drug use among female and male commercial sex workers visiting a drop in centre in Mombasa County, Kenya 

  Budambula, Nancy L. M.; Kemunto, Phyllys; Ziro, Onesmus Wanje; Kissinger, George; Ngari, Moses; Budambula, Valentine (PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH, 2022-11-11)

  The relationship between commercial sex work and drug use is complex and the two exacerbate each other. In Kenya, Mombasa County has one of the highest populations of drug users and commercial sex workers. Despite ...
• Vertical Distribution of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes in Sweet Potato 

  Kemboi, Bernard; Karuri, Hannah; Nyaga, Justine M.; Kingsbury, Aaron J. (Sciendo., 2022)

  Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are harmful pests that have become a severe threat to crop production worldwide. Diversity of PPN at horizontal and spatial scales influence the effectiveness of control strategies. This ...
• Nematode diversity and its association with soil properties in monocrop pigeon pea 

  Maina, Samuel; Karuri, Hannah; Mugweru, Julius (Elsevier Ltd, 202-07-03)

  Pigeon pea is a versatile pulse crop grown in semi-arid regions of Kenya; however, its production is affected by plant-parasitic nematodes. The current study was undertaken to investigate the diversity of nematodes and ...
• Nematode assemblages, food web indices and metabolic footprints in maize-pigeon pea agro-ecosystems 

  Maina, Samuel; Karuri, Hannah; Mugweru, Julius (Elsevier Ltd, 2022-08-02)

  Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) are important food crops in developing countries due to their multiple benefits. However, their production is constrained by plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) which ...
• The Contribution of Subtidal Seagrass Meadows to the Total Carbon Stocks of Gazi Bay, Kenya 

  Wang’ondu, Virginia W.; Githaiga, Michael N.; Gorman, Daniel; Kairo, James G.; Omollo, Derrick J. (Diversity, 2022-08-11)

  Seagrass beds occur globally in both intertidal and subtidal zones within shallow marine environments, such as bays and estuaries. These important ecosystems support fisheries production, attenuate strong wave energies, ...
• Genetic diversity and population structure of wild and cultivated Crotalaria species based on genotyping-by-sequencing 

  Muli, Joshua K.; Neondo, Johnstone O.; Kamau, Peter K.; Michuki, George N.; Budambula, Nancy L. (Plos One, 2022-09)

  Crotalaria is a plant genus that is found all over the world, with over 700 species of herbs and shrubs. The species are potential alternative food and industrial crops due to their adaptability to different environments. ...
• Annotations of novel antennae-expressed genes in male Glossina morsitans morsitans tsetse flies 

  Bwana, Billiah K.; Mireji, Paul O.; Obiero, George F.; Gakii, Consolata; Akoth, Modesta O.; Mugweru, Julius N.; Nyabuga, Franklin N.; Wachira, Benson M.; Bateta, Rosemary; Ng’ang’a, Margaret M.; Hassanali, Ahmed (Plos 1, 2022-08)

  Tsetse flies use antennal expressed genes to navigate their environment. While most canonical genes associated with chemoreception are annotated, potential gaps with important antennal genes are uncharacterized in Glossina ...
• Value chain and sustainability of mangrove wood harvesting in Lamu, Kenya 

  Riungu, Purity M.; Nyaga, Justine M.; Githaiga, Michael N.; Kairo, James G. (Elsevier, 2022-08)

  Mangrove forests provide harvestable wood and non-wood resources to human society globally. The current study evaluated value chain of mangrove wood products from Lamu, Kenya, and how these impacts on resources’ sustainability. ...
• Nematode assemblages, food web indices and metabolic footprints in maize-pigeon pea agro-ecosystems. 

  Maina, Samuel; Karuri, Hannah W.; Mugweru, Julius (Elsevier, 2022-08)

  Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) are important food crops in developing countries due to their multiple benefits. However, their production is constrained by plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) which ...

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