The OWSD newsletter brings you the latest news and announcements from the Secretariat and from our international network. In this edition, we celebrate the 2020 OWSD PhD Fellows and the recent graduates, welcome the two newest OWSD National Chapters, meet a Fellow using bacteria to improve soybean productivity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and more.  

Keep up with the OWSD National Chapters with new news section on OWSD website

Meet the Fellows:
Bintu Ndusha Nabintu

How did you learn about the OWSD fellowship, and what difference has it made to your career?

My research is on soil microorganisms. I am studying the genetic diversity of indigenous rhizobia, a group of bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen in symbiotic relation with legumes. I identify elite strains of rhizobia native to the Democratic Republic of Congo that can be included in fertilizers to enhance the nitrogen fixation—and thus the productivity—of soybeans in the country.

My interest in this subject is guided by the fact that soybean is a very nutritious crop, used to treat malnutrition that is prevalent in DRC due to repetitive wars. Soybean cultivation has been promoted and is expanding very rapidly as a result of its diverse uses and potential to generate cash income for poor households. Despite its importance, the yields reported by the FAO are very low (only 0.5 tons per hectare in 2017). Low soil fertility and limited use of mineral fertilizers, which tend to be exorbitantly expensive for poor farmers, are among the major factors contributing to low soybean productivity in the South Kivu province. Exploitation of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in legume crops through rhizobia is an affordable and sustainable approach to improve soil fertility. Therefore, knowledge of in-situ microbial diversity is important to improve this nitrogen fixation and enhance productivity.


Has anything surprised you about your research experience?

During my research I found a very high diversity of indigenous rhizobia and, surprisingly, I discovered that six native rhizobium strains had a close genetic relationship with a commercial strain, USDA 110. In the field, however, two of the native strains outperformed USDA110, increasing soybean grain yield by 68.7% and 70.8% respectively, over the commercial strain.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your research?

At this moment I could have defended my thesis, however the university has currently suspended all activities due to COVID-19.
 

What are your plans for the future? What will you do after you complete your PhD?

• OWSD Vice President for the Africa region Olubukola Oluranti Babalola received an award for exceptional research and development contributions in the Vice-Chancellor’s Research and Innovation Excellence Awards at North West University, South Africa. 
• 2016 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award winner Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu SEEK GSP project  to provide group psychotherapy support to Ugandan HIV patients was named the Top Social Innovation in Health from Makerere University in 2020.

• OWSD Vice President for the Africa region Olubukola Oluranti Babalola has been made an Associate Editor of the journal BMC Microbiology.
• 2011 PhD Fellow and Secretary of the OWSD Bangladesh National Chapter Afsana Ansari was the keynote speaker at the 'Regional workshop on increasing yield of Boro paddy in Kushtia and its adjoining areas in Bangladesh', in November 2020.

• 2016 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award winner Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu has been named one of the 100 most inspiring & Influential women in 2020 by the BBC.
• 2018 Early Career Fellow Lilian Kaale authored a policy brief, "Raising awareness in support of local processors in the production of organic sanitizers using plant extracts," calling for government intervention to support the development of sanitizing materials made from local organic resources.  

• 2016 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award winner Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu published a paper, "Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of group support psychotherapy delivered by trained lay health workers for depression treatment among people with HIV in Uganda: a cluster-randomised trial", in The Lancet Global Health. 

• 2018 Early Career Fellow Shobha Poudel has published a paper, "Multidisciplinary approach to COVID-19 risk communication: a framework and tool for individual and regional risk assessment", in Nature Scientific Reports.
• 2015 PhD Fellow Joyce Agyei-Amponsah published two papers: "Consumer Food Preferences and Drivers amongst Ghanaians: Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic", in Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology; and "Effect of Substituting Sunflower Oil with Starch‐Based Fat Replacers on Sensory Profile, Tribology, and Rheology of Reduced‐Fat Mayonnaise‐Type Emulsions", in Starch.
• 2018 PhD Fellow Aye Nyein Chan published a paper, "Identification through fine mapping and verification using CRISPR/Cas9-targeted mutagenesis for a minor QTL controlling grain weight in rice", in Theoretical and Applied Genetics.
• 2017 PhD Fellow Asmaul Husna published a paper, "Fusarium commune associated with wilt and root rot disease in rice", in Plant Pathology.
• 2018 Early Career Fellow Lilian Kaale published a paper entitled "Aflatoxin contamination and recommendations to improve its control: a review," in World Mycotoxin Journal. 
• 2015 PhD Fellow Afrah Khairallah has published two papers: "Probing the structural dynamics of the tunnelling-fold enzyme 6- pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase to reveal allosteric drug targets in Plasmodium falciparum", in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences; and "AMBER Force Field Parameters for the Zn (II) Ions of the Tunneling-fold Enzymes GTP Cyclohydrolase I and 6-Pyruvoyl Tetrahydropterin Synthase", in the Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics.