Baobab Index

Mast cell leukemia (MCL) is the rarest and most aggressive variant of systemic mastocytosis (approximately 1% of cases), with a median survival of under 2 years. Diagnosis requires ≥20% atypical mast cells in the marrow aspirate, and the disease frequently overlaps with myeloid neoplasms. An 86-year-old man with paranasal sinus diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in remission since 2017 after R-CHOP and methotrexate, and prostate adenocarcinoma treated in 2019, presented with acute pancytopenia, presumed to represent lymphoma relapse. Serum tryptase exceeded 11 999 ng/mL; the aspirate showed 20% pleomorphic mast cells (CD117+, weak CD25, CD2-), confirming aleukemic MCL. Formal CMML criteria could not be confirmed due to the unavailability of monocyte differential data; however, the findings raised suspicion for an associated myeloid neoplasm, with SM with an associated hematological neoplasm remaining an alternative classification. Karyotyping was normal; next-generation sequencing revealed pathogenic variants in TP53, RB1, DAXX, ASXL1, TET2, and SRSF2, and a rare extracellular-domain KIT p.D419del. He declined inpatient midostaurin, deteriorated rapidly, and died 2 weeks later. This case illustrates a therapy-related MCL (plausible but unconfirmed given the non-leukemogenic profile of methotrexate and the focal nature of prostate stereotactic body radiation therapy) with a suspected associated myeloid neoplasm and complex pathogenic mutations. The KIT p.D419del extracellular domain variant is a rare non-D816V mutation; the canonical D816V was not detected on NGS, though the presence of a low-variant allele fraction D816V cannot be fully excluded due to assay sensitivity. Despite midostaurin, the disease remained aggressive. Persistent unexplained cytopenias warrant heightened suspicion of MCL, and comprehensive genomic profiling clarifies diagnosis, distinguishes overlapping myeloid disease, and informs prognosis in this aggressive, refractory neoplasm.

The occurrence of 22 mycotoxins in wheat flour marketed in the West Bank, Palestine, was investigated to evaluate the health risk for consumers. A total of 60 wheat flour samples were analysed by UHPLC-MS/MS, revealing the presence of several regulated and emerging mycotoxins, including AFB1, AFG2, OTA, DON, ZEN, CIT, T-2 toxin, fumonisins (FBs), beauvericin (BEA), and enniantins (ENNs). ENN A showed the highest levels, whereas FB1 was the most frequently detected mycotoxin, occurring in 70% of the analysed samples. Mycotoxin co-occurrence was commonly observed, with 2-8 mycotoxins being simultaneously detected in individual samples. Analytical results were compared with current European legislation, as it contains the most extensive list of regulated mycotoxins. Overall, the findings highlight the frequent contamination of wheat flour by (multiple) mycotoxins in Palestine and emphasise the associated potential health risks, especially for infants, and the need for effective control strategies.

Gene panels represent a widely used strategy for genetic testing in a vast range of Mendelian disorders. While this approach aids reliable bioinformatic detection of short coding variants, it often fails to detect many larger variants. Recent studies have recommended the adoption of pangenome references (as opposed to linear reference genomes like GRCh38) to augment detection of large variants from targeted sequencing, potentially providing diagnostic laboratories with the possibility to streamline diagnostic work-ups and reduce costs. Here, we analyze 1969 cardiomyopathy cases and 1805 controls sequenced with the Illumina Trusight Cardio panel using a pangenome-based workflow (GRAF) and five conventional orthogonal methodologies (GATK HaplotypeCaller, GATK-gCNV, ExomeDepth, Manta and Lumpy-SV) to detect variants ≥ 20 bp in size. Following lab-based variant validation by means of PCR and Sanger sequencing, we show that GRAF conjugates higher precision and recall (F1 score 0.86) compared with other methods (F1 0-0.57) in detecting potentially pathogenic variants ≥ 20 bp from short-read panel data. Results were complemented by a comparison of the tools' performance in detecting ground truth variants on reference sample HG002 from Genome In A Bottle, which confirmed GRAF to outperform other tools also on exome sequencing (F1 0.97 vs. 0-0.94). Notably, in the HG002 benchmark dataset, GRAF also showed slightly improved performance compared to GATK HaplotypeCaller in the identification of small variants (1-19 bp; F1 0.975 vs. 0.968). Our results indicate that pangenome-based workflows aid improved detection of large variants from targeted sequencing data in the clinical context and suggest that they may contribute to more unified variant detection frameworks for all-size genetic variants in the future.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2026.1727890.].

Malaria transmission depends critically on the vectorial competence of Anopheles mosquitoes, which is partly reflected by the quantity of infectious Plasmodium falciparum forms harboured in the salivary glands. Whether agro-ecological heterogeneity and vector species identity modulate this parasite burden remains poorly characterized in Benin. Anopheles gambiae s.l. were collected by Human Landing Catch across 12 localities spanning 7 agro-ecological zones in Benin during August-October 2022. Species were identified by SINE-PCR. P. falciparum infection was assessed by circumsporozoite protein (CSP) ELISA, and sporozoite load was quantified in positive head-thorax preparations by real-time PCR targeting the plasmepsin gene (NZYTech kit, ref. MD 02411). Statistical comparisons across agro-ecological zones (within each species) used the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the two-species comparison used the Mann-Whitney U test, in R v4.4.1. A total of 1,355 individuals were molecularly analyzed for species identification. Of 3,021 mosquitoes collected, these 1,355 yielded 858 An. coluzzii (63.32%), 489 An. gambiae (36.09%), and 8 An. arabiensis (0.59%). The overall sporozoite index was 5.98% (95% CI 4.8-7.4%), ranging from 0% in Cotonou and Parakou to 16.19% in Boukoumbé. No significant inter-zonal variation in sporozoite load was detected in either An. coluzzii (Kruskal-Wallis: H = 5.79, df = 3, p = 0.122) or An. gambiae (H = 3.25, df = 2, p = 0.197). However, An. coluzzii carried a significantly higher sporozoite burden than An. gambiae (Mann-Whitney U = 381, p < 0.001). Broad agro-ecological zone categories were not associated with detectable differences in individual P. falciparum sporozoite load in the principal malaria vectors of Benin. Anopheles coluzzii carried a significantly higher sporozoite burden than An. gambiae, indicating species-level differences in parasite permissiveness that merit further investigation.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health challenge, particularly in sub‑Saharan Africa, where mother‑to‑child transmission (MTCT) is a leading cause of chronic infection. Perinatal HBV acquisition carries a high risk of chronic disease, yet prevention efforts are limited by restricted access to HBV DNA testing. Simplified point‑of‑care viral load assays, such as Xpert A cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2024 and May 2025 among pregnant woman attending antenatal care at different levels of the health system pyramid in Mali. The study sites included Referral Health Centers in Commune III of Bamako, Bla, and Sikasso, as well as Community Health Centers in Djibouria (Kéniéba district) and Badialan (Commune III, Bamako). Pregnant women testing positive for HBs Ag by a rapid test were enrolled. Venous blood (4 mL) was collected for HBV viral load quantification using the Xpert Among 2,952 pregnant women screened, 205 were HBsAg positive (prevalence of 6.9%). After excluding hemolyzed samples, 191 women underwent HBV viral load testing. Overall, 64.0% had detectable HBV DNA; among these, 69.9% had viral loads < 2,000 IU/mL, while 5.7% had levels > 200,000 IU/mL. Viral load was not associated with maternal age or gestational age but was significantly associated with antiviral treatment status (p < 0.001). Same-day results were more frequent in decentralized laboratories with on-site GeneXpert testing than in the central laboratory (23.5% vs. 4.4%). However, in both settings, most results were returned after more than four days, with a significant difference in turnaround time distribution (p < 0.001). HBV infection remains highly endemic among pregnant women in Mali, with a meaningful proportion presenting with high viral loads associated with increased risk of mother-to-child transmission. Decentralized Xpert

Plant roots constantly communicate with their microbiota, adapting their anatomy to facilitate microbial colonisation under abiotic stresses. Microbes, in turn, can reshape root anatomy once they establish. However, the mechanisms that coordinate this interplay remain largely unknown. Working with the aquatic plant family Lemnaceae, we reveal that the inherent complexity of root anatomy determines root plasticity in response to microbial colonisation. This microbiota-driven anatomical plasticity enhances plant survival in nutrient-competitive environments. By combining synthetic root models with real roots, we also find that anatomical plasticity is associated with metabolic reprogramming during microbial establishment. Moreover, we identify a plant metabolite, N

The genus Abutilon Mill. (Malvaceae) comprises approximately 178 species distributed across tropical and subtropical regions, many of which hold significant ornamental, economic, and medicinal value; yet its taxonomic classification remains challenging. In this study, six species were sequenced from herbarium specimens, and the chloroplast (cp.) genomes of ten additional species were assembled de novo from publicly available raw data. Three previously reported cp. genomes were also incorporated to characterise cp. genome structure, identify polymorphic loci, and perform phylogenetic analyses. The cp. genomes ranged from 159,458 to 160,454 bp and exhibited the typical quadripartite structure, with each genome containing 112 unique genes (78 protein-coding, 30 tRNA, and 4 rRNA) that showed conserved content and organisation. These genomes exhibited high similarity in GC content, inverted repeat boundaries, relative synonymous codon usage, amino acid frequencies, and substitution patterns. However, notable variation was observed in the total number of simple sequence repeats, ranging from 70 to 97 per genome. Selection analyses indicated predominant purifying selection, with evidence of episodic positive selection detected in rpoC2, rbcL, and ycf1. Two codons in rbcL were clade-specific and provided phylogenetic signal distinguishing Australian and Old World pantropical species. Nucleotide diversity analysis identified six highly polymorphic intergenic spacers (trnH-psbA, rps19-rpl2, psbT-pbf1, psaC-ndhD, trnR-atpA, and ndhJ-ndhK) that may be suitable for taxonomic studies. The phylogeny from maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) resolved two major clades: one comprising an exclusively Australian lineage occurring predominantly in arid and semi-arid environments, and the other a pantropical lineage spanning multiple continents. Abutilon grandifolium was recovered as sister to the remaining sampled Abutilon taxa in both ML and BI analyses, although no biogeographic origin inference can be drawn from this placement pending broader taxon sampling and integration of nuclear genomic data. These findings provide insights into the evolutionary dynamics of the cp. genome in Abutilon and offer a foundational genomic framework for refining Abutilon taxonomy.

Prostate cancer follows a long and heterogeneous disease course with incompletely understood aetiology