FRIDAY, 17 AUGUST - Prof. Dr Chua Tock Hing and his research team of Department of Pathobiology and Medical Diagnostics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia will publish in the next issue of PlosOne, a paper entitled, ”Mitochondrial variation in subpopulations of Anopheles balabacensis Baisas in Sabah, Malaysia (Diptera: Culicidae)”.

The coauthors are Benny Manin (Ph.D student at UMS) and Prof. Chris Drakeley (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).

This paper is based on the research done for the past five years on the primary vector (Anopheles balabacensis) of the monkey malaria (caused by Plasmodium knowlesi), in Sabah which has recorded the highest incidence of monkey malaria in the world with most of the cases occurring in the interior areas.

A survey conducted in Kudat and Kota Marudu districts also showed that 9.8% of the collected blood samples were positive for Plasmodium knowlesi with most of the infected individuals not having a history of fever.

There are strong linkages between landscape change, disease ecology and human health which help to explain the emergence of the monkey malaria.

These anthropogenic changes to the landscape in Sabah are influencing the dynamics between mosquito vectors, macaques, and humans.

Other results also suggest that Plasmodium knowlesi is adapting to the changes in the distribution and vectorial capacity of its vectors in Malaysian Borneo.

This mosquito feeds on both macaque monkeys as well as humans, preferring to bite humans outdoors and during the early evening.

It is the dominant Anopheles species found in Kudat Division where it is responsible for all the cases of Plasmodium knowlesi.

However, there is limited basic biological and ecological information on this vector.

Prof Chua and his team sequenced 71 Anopheles balabacensis individuals collected from 14 sites of seven districts in Sabah, constituting 14 subpopulations.

The cox1, cox2 genes of the mitochondria were sequenced and analysed to investigate the genetic relationship between the specimens from the various sites.

A total of 17 and 10 haplotypes (a haplotype is a group of genes within an organism that is inherited together from a single parent) were detected in the subpopulations using the cox1, cox2 sequences respectively.

Some of the haplotypes were common among the subpopulations resulting from high gene flow occurring between them, and the variation detected between subpopulations was not due to the geographical distance between them.

Further analysis showed that Anopheles balabacensis in Sabah is experiencing population expansion and growth.

More importantly the high gene flow between populations could help to spread insecticide resistance which may hamper vector control effort.

THURSDAY, 16 AUGUST - A delegation from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), led by the Vice Chancellor Prof. Datuk Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin recently visited Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences (HAS) in Harbin, China.

Discussion were held with Prof. Guo Chunjing, President of HAS, and other senior officials of the academy, as well as with key researchers from Institute of Microbiology, a comprehensive research institute under HAS.

Academic and research collaboration between UMS and HAS have been established since 2012, and both institution are strongly committed to further enhance this collaboration for the next five years.

Among the focus areas are research and cultivation of edible mushrooms, research on soil and crop improvement using microbes and organic amendments, research on functional food, and student and staff mobility.

A new initiative to be pursued in this collaboration is smart partnership with the industries.

Among the delegation from UMS during this visit is Datuk Yap Yun Fook who is an adjunct professor of UMS as well as a prominent agriculture entrepreneur in Sabah.

TUESDAY, 14 AUGUST - An endangered juvenile green turtle has been found dead on the beach near Universiti Malaysia Sabah, here on Sunday night.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Juanita Joseph, the carcass of the 65-centimeter long green turtle was found on the beach near the Borneo Marine Research Institute, UMS at 10.35pm Sunday night and was immediately reported to the Sabah Wildlife Department.

“We suspect that the turtle has been killed after being hit by a boat propeller and this can be seen from the crack on the carapace and injury on its head.

“However, we are still waiting for the official post-mortem result from the Sabah Wildlife Department,” she said.

Classified as endangered, green turtle; scientifically known as Chelonia Mydas is the largest hard-shelled sea turtle in the world.

Based on the statistics from the Department of Marine Park Malaysia, the population of sea turtles worldwide has dropped significantly by 90 percent over the past half century.

“Green turtles are threatened by poaching of their eggs and loss of their nesting beach sites. They are also being caught in fishing gear and harvested from their foraging grounds around Sabah waters by foreign fisherman.

“On top of that, marine debris such as plastics is killing our sea turtles because it is often perceived as food,” she said.

Under the Sabah’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 Section 1 Schedule 1, green turtle is a totally protected species. Individuals who are found guilty of killing/taking/selling/buying/be in possession the species including eggs and its parts, can face imprisonment of up to 5 years or fine of up to RM250,000.

For the record, UMS initiated research on sea turtles in Sabah in 1998, including research on green and hawksbill turtles in Pulau Mabul. A total of 207 green turtles and 21 hawksbill turtles have been tagged since the research began in August 2010.

Source: IPMB

MONDAY, 13 AUGUST – The Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in collaboration with a private company, Epal Handicraft Training Centre recently initiated an EcoCampus project held in conjunction with the National Day 2018 themed, “Sayangi Malaysiaku” (Love My Malaysia).

The activity dubbed, ‘Eco-Bag Project’ saw some 30 bags sewn by administration staff of FKSW using discarded banners found at the campus.

In her remarks, Deputy Registrar of FKSW, Molly Donna Awang Sham lauded the move which was organised in support of UMS being an EcoCampus.

“We hope to spread awareness amongst UMS staff and students to recycle, reuse, reduce or repurpose,” she said.

More than 10 administration staff of FKSW helped sew the eco-bag which was quickly snapped up by staff of the faculty and other faculties. - FL