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African microbiomes matter

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 21, pages 479–481 (2023)Cite this article

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African microbiomes are much neglected and previous studies have disproportionately focused on the Global North. Africa harbours substantial genetic diversity in terms of its ecosystems, humans and animals. In this Comment, we highlight the lack of information regarding microbiome datasets from Africa and propose mechanisms for increasing microbiome research in Africa.

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Fig. 1: Global microbiome distribution and African microbiome science pillars.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) for funding the first ISME-Africa meeting that led to the development of this commentary. T.P.M. also acknowledges the Department of Science and Innovation/National Research Foundation Research Chair Initiative (UID 110717) and the University of Pretoria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DSI/NRF SARChI in Marine Microbiomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oliver K. I. Bezuidt & Rian E. Pierneef

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Eshchar Mizrachi

  3. Laboratoire de Biotechnologies Végétale et Microbienne/UMRI Sciences Agronomiques et Génie Rural, Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire

    Adolphe Zeze & Romain K. Fossou

  4. Laboratoire Central de Biotechnologies, Centre National de la Recherche Agronomique, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

    Claude Ghislaine Kouadjo

  5. Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Samuel Duodu

  6. West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Samuel Duodu

  7. Department of Microbiology, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

    Chioma B. Chikere

  8. Food Security and Safety Focus Area, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa

    Olubukola O. Babalola

  9. Plant Omics Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

    Ashwil Klein

  10. Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

    Marshall Keyster

  11. Genetics Department, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Mornè du Plessis

  12. Research Unit Tropical Mycology and Plant-Soil Fungi Interactions, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Parakou, Benin

    Nourou S. Yorou

  13. African Genome Center, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Ben Guerir, Morocco

    Mohamed Hijri

  14. Department of Immunology, University of Pretoria School of Medicine, Pretoria, South Africa

    Theresa Rossouw

  15. Department of Plant Production Sciences and Technologies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Casper N. Kamutando

  16. Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Stephanus Venter & Lucy N. Moleleki

  17. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Colin Murrell

Authors
  1. Thulani P. Makhalanyane
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  2. Oliver K. I. Bezuidt
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  10. Olubukola O. Babalola
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  11. Ashwil Klein
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  12. Marshall Keyster
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  14. Nourou S. Yorou
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  15. Mohamed Hijri
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  18. Stephanus Venter
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  19. Lucy N. Moleleki
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  20. Colin Murrell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thulani P. Makhalanyane.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Makhalanyane, T.P., Bezuidt, O.K.I., Pierneef, R.E. et al. African microbiomes matter. Nat Rev Microbiol 21, 479–481 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-023-00925-y

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