Browsing Genetics by UP Author "Cowan, Don A."

Browsing Genetics by UP Author "Cowan, Don A."

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  • Advanced photogrammetry to assess lichen colonization in the hyper-arid Namib Desert 
    Hinchcliffe, Graham; Bollard-Breen, Barbara; Cowan, Don A.; Doshi, Ashray; Gillman, Len N.; Maggs-Kolling, Gillian; De Los Rios, Asuncion; Pointing, Stephen B. (Frontiers Research Foundation, 2017-10-27)
    The hyper-arid central region of the Namib Desert is characterized by quartz desert pavement terrain that is devoid of vascular plant covers. In this extreme habitat the only discernible surface covers are epilithic lichens ...
  • Agulhas Current properties shape microbial community diversity and potential functionality 
    Phoma, Sandra; Vikram, Surendra; Jansson, Janet K.; Ansorge, Isabelle J.; Cowan, Don A.; Van de Peer, Yves; Makhalanyane, Thulani Peter (Nature Publising Group, 2018-07-12)
    Understanding the impact of oceanographic features on marine microbial ecosystems remains a major ecological endeavour. Here we assess microbial diversity, community structure and functional capacity along the Agulhas ...
  • Airborne microbial transport limitation to isolated Antarctic soil habitats 
    Archer, Stephen D.J.; Lee, Kevin C.; Caruso, Tancredi; Maki, Teruya; Lee, Charles K.; Carys, S. Craig; Cowan, Don A.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Pointing, Stephen B. (Nature Publishing Group, 2019-03)
    Dispersal is a critical yet poorly understood factor underlying macroecological patterns in microbial communities. Airborne microbial transport is assumed to occupy a central role in determining dispersal outcomes, and ...
  • Ancient landscapes of the Namib Desert harbor high levels of genetic variability and deeply divergent lineages for Collembola 
    Collins, Gemma E.; Hogg, Ian D.; Baxter, Janine R.; Cowan, Don A. (Wiley Open Access, 2019-04)
    AIM : To assess spatial patterns of genetic and species‐level diversity for Namib Desert Collembola using mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences. LOCATION : Namib Desert gravel plains. TAXON ...
  • Ancient oncogenesis, infection and human evolution 
    Rifkin, Riaan F.; Potgieter, Marnie; Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Cowan, Don A. (John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2017-12)
    The recent discovery that malignant neoplastic lesions date back nearly 2 million years ago not only highlights the antiquity of cancer in the human lineage, but also provides remarkable insight into ancestral hominin ...
  • Antarctic microbial communities are functionally redundant, adapted and resistant to short term temperature perturbations 
    De Scally, Storme Z.; Makhalanyane, Thulani Peter; Frossard, Aline; Hogg, I.D.; Cowan, Don A. (Elsevier, 2016-12)
    Climate change has the potential to induce dramatic shifts in the biodiversity and functionality of soil microorganisms in polar hyperarid ecosystems. In these depauperate soil ecosystems, microbial communities are vital ...
  • Anticancer agents from diverse natural sources 
    Khazir, Jabeena; Mir, Bilal Ahmad; Pilcher, Lynne A.; Riley, Darren L.; Cowan, Don A. (Natural Product, 2014-11)
    Cancer is one of the major causes of death and the number of new cases, as well as the number of individuals living with cancer, is expanding continuously. Worldwide the alarming rise in mortality rate due to cancer has ...
  • Arable agriculture changes soil microbial communities in the South African Grassland Biome 
    Nkuekam, Gilbert Kamgan; Cowan, Don A.; Valverde, Angel (AOSIS Open Journals, 2018-05-30)
    Many studies, mostly in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, have demonstrated that agricultural practices affect the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. However, very little is known about ...
  • Assembling metagenomes, one community at a time 
    Van der Walt, Andries Johannes; Van Goethem, Marc W.; Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Makhalanyane, Thulani Peter; Reva, Oleg N.; Cowan, Don A. (BioMed Central, 2017-07-10)
    BACKGROUND : Metagenomics allows unprecedented access to uncultured environmental microorganisms. The analysis of metagenomic sequences facilitates gene prediction and annotation, and enables the assembly of draft genomes, ...
  • Assessment of temporal and spatial evolution of bacterial communities in a biological sand filter mesocosm treating winery wastewater 
    Ramond, Jean-Baptiste; Welz, Pamela J.; Tuffin, Marla I.; Burton, Stephanie G.; Cowan, Don A. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)
    AIMS : To assess the impact of winery wastewater (WW) on biological sand filter (BSF) bacterial community structures, and to evaluate whether BSFs can constitute alternative and valuable treatment- processes to remediate ...
  • Balancing redox cofactor generation and ATP synthesis : key microaerobic responses in thermophilic fermentations 
    Loftie-Eaton, Wesley; Taylor, Mark; Horne, Kerry; Tuffin, Marla I.; Burton, Stephanie G.; Cowan, Don A. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013-04)
    Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius is a Gram-positive, thermophilic bacterium capable of ethanologenic fermentation of both C5 and C6 sugars and may have possible use for commercial bioethanol production [Tang et al., 2009; ...
  • Biodiversity : so much more than legs and leaves 
    Cowan, Don A.; Rybicki, Edward P.; Tuffin, Marla I.; Valverde, Angel; Wingfield, Michael J. (AOSIS Open Journals, 2013-11)
    Microorganisms inhabit virtually every possible niche on Earth, including those at the outer envelope of survival. However, the focus of most conservation authorities and ecologists is the ‘legs and leaves’ side of biology ...
  • Biogeography of bacterial communities in hot springs : a focus on the actinobacteria 
    Valverde, Angel; Tuffin, Marla I.; Cowan, Don A. (Springer, 2012-07)
    Actinobacteria are ubiquitous in soil, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Although various studies have focused on the microbial ecology of this phylum, data are scant on the ecology of actinobacteria endemic to hot springs. ...
  • Biotic interactions are an unexpected yet critical control on the complexity of an abiotically driven polar ecosystem 
    Lee, Charles K.; Laughlin, Daniel C.; Bottos, Eric M.; Caruso, Tancredi; Joy, Kurt; Barrett, John E.; Brabyn, Lars; Nielsen, Uffe N.; Adams, Byron J.; Wall, Diana H.; Hopkins, David W.; Pointing, Stephen B.; McDonald, Ian R.; Cowan, Don A.; Banks, Jonathan C.; Stichbury, Glen A.; Jones, Irfon; Zawar-Reza, Peyman; Katurji, Marwan; Hogg, Ian D.; Sparrow, Ashley D.; Storey, Bryan C.; Green, T. G. Allan; Cary, S. Craig (Nature Research, 2019-02-15)
    Abiotic and biotic factors control ecosystem biodiversity, but their relative contributions remain unclear. The ultraoligotrophic ecosystem of the Antarctic Dry Valleys, a simple yet highly heterogeneous ecosystem, is a ...
  • Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research 
    Guerra, Carlos A.; Heintz-Buschart, Anna; Sikorski, Johannes; Chatzinotas, Antonis; Guerrero-Ramirez, Nathaly; Cesarz, Simone; Beaumelle, Lea; Rillig, Matthias C.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Buscot, Francois; Overmann, Jorg; Patoine, Guillaume; Phillips, Helen R.P.; Winter, Marten; Wubet, Tesfaye; Kusel, Kirsten; Bardgett, Richard D.; Cameron, Erin K.; Cowan, Don A.; Grebenc, Tine; Marin, Cesar; Orgiazzi, Alberto; Singh, Brajesh K.; Wall, Diana H.; Eisenhauer, Nico (Nature Publising Group, 2020-08-03)
    Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning ...
  • Carbohydrate active enzyme domains from extreme thermophiles : components of a modular toolbox for lignocellulose degradation 
    Botha, Jonathan; Mizrachi, Eshchar; Myburg, Alexander Andrew; Cowan, Don A. (Springer, 2018-01)
    Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising feedstock for the manufacture of biodegradable and renewable bioproducts. However, the complex lignocellulosic polymeric structure of woody tissue is difficult to access without ...
  • Characterization and homology modelling of a novel multi-modular and multi-functional Paenibacillus mucilaginosus glycoside hydrolase 
    Mosina, Ntsoaki Leticia; Schubert, Wolf-Dieter; Cowan, Don A. (Springer, 2019-11)
    Glycoside hydrolases, particularly cellulases, xylanases and mannanases, are essential for the depolymerisation of lignocellulosic substrates in various industrial bio-processes. In the present study, a novel glycoside ...
  • Characterization of bacterial communities in lithobionts and soil niches from Victoria Valley, Antarctica 
    Van Goethem, Marc W.; Makhalanyane, Thulani Peter; Valverde, Angel; Cary, Stephen Craig; Cowan, Don A. (Oxford University Press, 2016-04)
    Here we provide the first exploration of microbial diversity from three distinct Victoria Valley edaphic habitats, namely lithobionts (hypoliths, endoliths) and surface soils. Using a combination of terminal restriction ...
  • A clinically important, plasmid-borne antibiotic resistance gene (β-lactamase TEM-116) present in desert soils 
    Naidoo, Yashini; Valverde, Angel; Cason, Errol D.; Pierneef, Rian Ewald; Cowan, Don A. (Elsevier, 2020-06)
    The exhaustive use of antibiotics in humans, animal farming and other agricultural practices has resulted in the frequent appearance of antibiotic resistant bacteria in human-impacted habitats. However, antibiotic resistance ...
  • Cold stress affects antioxidative response and accumulation of medicinally important withanolides in Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal 
    Mir, Bilal Ahmad; Mir, Shabir Ahmad; Khazir, Jabeena; Tonfack, Libert Brice; Cowan, Don A.; Vyas, Dhiraj; Koul, Sushma (Elsevier, 2015-11)
    Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Indian ginseng) is a high value medicinal plant. It synthesizes a large array of biologically active withanolides. In this study, two month old seedlings of AGB002 (wild genotype) and AGB025 ...