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Pregnant women infected with HCV should be given attention due to their special physiological stage and the effect on offspring health. To examine the prevalence of HCV infection among pregnant women in part of China and explore relevant factors during pregnancy, a cross-sectional study was conducted in four maternal and children health care institutions (MCHC) in Guangdong, Hunan and Chongqing. Pregnant women who were delivered, induced or spontaneous abortion were included and relevant information was collected through the Hospital Information System. Results showed that the prevalence of HCV among pregnant women in four MCHCs was 0.11% (95% CI 0.09–0.13%). Age, occupations, regions, syphilis-infection, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), and placenta previa were significant factors (all P < 0.05). Age and syphilis-infection were positively correlated with HCV infection (Z = 3.41, P = 0.0006; OR = 18.16, 95% CI 9.34–35.29). HCV and HBV infection were risk factors of ICP (OR = 4.18, 95% CI 2.18–8.04; OR = 2.59, 95% CI 2.31–2.89). Our study indicates that the prevalence of HCV among pregnant women in the three provinces(city) was low compared with the general population in China. Older age and syphilis-infection increased the risk of HCV infection during pregnancy. HCV infection was a risk factor of ICP. Generally, we need keep a watchful eye on HCV infection and relevant factors mentioned above during pregnancy in clinic, especially those also infected with syphilis. HCV testing based on risk factors is recommended in antenatal care and obstetrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pepper blight, caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici (P. capsici), is one of the most destructive soilborne diseases worldwide. Between 2019 and 2020, 235 single spore isolates of P. capsici were collected from 36 commercial pepper planting areas in Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guizhou provinces in China. A novel full set of 323 highquality polymorphic microsatellites was obtained by resequencing 10 isolates. In total, 163 isolates with two alleles per microsatellite locus were used for population analysis and resulted in 156 genotypes on 10 microsatellite loci. The genetic diversity, population differentiation, principal component, genetic structure, and genetic relationships analyses showed an extensive variety of the P. capsici in Sichuan and Guizhou with clonal lineages, two shared genotypes, and no geographic differentiation. The population from Chongqing was differentiated from that of Sichuan and Guizhou and had the highest genetic diversity. There was no significant distinction between the populations of the two sampling years, but there was a small differentiation between the populations from bell peppers and hot peppers. The isolates from Southwest China were largely distant from the two reference isolates from the USA. The analysis of molecular variance showed that the major variance of the populations was within populations. The linkage equilibrium test, mating type composition, and oospore detection indicated that only P. capsici from the Jiulongpo district of Chongqing had appeared in sexual recombination. Overall, this study revealed that the high and complex genetic diversity population of P. capsici in Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guizhou with uneven geographic variation and limited sexual reproductive behavior in Chongqing, potentially driven by differences in the geographical environment, reproductive patterns, different cultivars, and artificial long-distance transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]