Browsing by Author "Wheto, M."
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Item Open Access Differential IFN-Gamma (IFN-γ), Interleukin 10 (IL-10) and Cardiac Troponin I (cTnI) Responses in Natural Bovine Trypanosomosis in Nigeria(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2016-09-14) Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Takeet, Michael I.; Fagbemi, Benjamin O.; Peters, S.O; Wheto, M.; Donato, Marcos De; Imumorin, I.GTrypanosomosis is major drawback to profitable livestock production in sub-Sahara African, including Nigeria. Knowledge of the cytokines production in the phase of natural infection may help to better diagnose, treat and prevent bovine trypanosomosis. The purpose of the this study was to determine the levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and cardiac troponin–I (cTnI) in the sera of cattle naturally infected with T. brucei, T. congolense and T. vivax and correlate these levels with parasitaemia and PCV of the infected animals. Five milliliter of blood samples were collected via the jugular vein from 411 randomly selected cattle into EDTA and non-citrated bottle. PCV was determined manually using HCT. Trypansomes were detected and characterized by microscopy and PCR, respectively. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-10 and cTnI were determined using commercial ELISA kit. Data were summarized using descriptive statistic and significance of differences determined by ANOVA. Of the 62 samples positive for trypanosomes by microscopy, 50 samples were confirmed to species level by PCR. The sera levels of IFN-γ, IL-10 and cTnI of infected cattle were higher than non-infected cattle. The differences were not significant (p < 0.05) from the non-infected cattle except IL-10. There was no correlation between assayed parameters, the PCV and parasitemia. This is the first report that determines the sera levels of IFN-γ, IL-10 and cTnI in cattle with natural trypanosomosis. Further investigation is required to understand the specific effect of trypanosomes on myocardiac integrity and interaction between the two cytokines in natural trypanosomosis in cattle.Item Open Access GENE FLOW BETWEEN NIGERIAN SHEEP BREEDS AS REVEALED BY MICRO SATELLITE DNA MARKERS(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2020-02-11) Yakubu, Abdulmojeeb; Agaviezor, B.0; Peters, S.O; Ajayi, F.O; Gunn, Hollingsheed H; Adefenwa, M.A; Adebambo, O.A; Ozoje, M.O; Ikeobi, C.O.N; Wheto, M.; Ajayi, O.O; Amusan, S.A; Ekundayo, J.O; Sanni, Timothy M; Okpeku, M.; Onasanya, Gbolabo O; Donato, Marcos De; Ilori, M.B; Kizilkaya, Kadir; Imumorin, I.GThe presence and level of gene flow between the four major Nigerian sheep breeds (West African Dwarf (WAD), Yankasa, Balami and Uda) was assessed using microsatellite DNA markers. DNA was extracted from 50~1of whole blood using the ZymoBead™ Genomic DNA Kit The DNA was amplified by PCR in a MyCycler™ Thermal Cycler (Biorad, Hercules, CA) using 15microsatellite markers selected. DNA fragment analysis of microsatellite markers was carried out using the Applied BioSystems 3730xl DNA Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad, CA, USA). The level of gene flow or population structure was assessed by STRUCTURE software and barplots generated by DISTRUCT. At K=2, two clusters was constituted from breeds descending from Balami and Yankasa, both of which are from Northern region in Nigeria. At K=3 and K=4, one more cluster emerged and further analyses did not reveal any additional strong high level substructure, so separating the entire the entire datasets into 3 major clusters was chosen as the final configuration. There are however, several cases of adm ixtures in the genome of some of the individuals that constitute the cluster. Yankasa and Salami breed had more cases of admixtures followed by Udawhile the WAD was the least breed with cases of admixturesItem Open Access GENETIC CONSERVATION THROUGH EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF THE IMPROVED INDIGENOUS CHICKEN BREEDS BY RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN NIGERIA(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2021-01-03) Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Adebambo, O.; Adebambo, A.; Adeleke, M.; Adeleye, A.; Adetunji, A.; Ajayi, F.; Akinola, W.; Alabi, O.; Bamidele, O.; Dessie, T.; Ikeobi, C.; Ogundu, U.; Ojoawo, H.; Osinbowale, D.; Ozoje, M.; Peters, S.; Sonaiya, B.; Wheto, M.§History of collection and genetic characterization chicken genotypes in Nigeria §ShikaBrown (1984) §Location: National Animal Production Research Institute, Shika, Zaria §FUNAAB Alpha (1994) §Location: Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria §FULANI Ecotype (2014) §Location: Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.Item Open Access Genetic diversity among Trypanosoma vivax strains detected in naturally infected cattle in Nigeria based on ITS1 of rDNA and diagnostic antigen gene sequences(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2017-09-05) Takeet, Michael I.; Fagbemi, Benjamin O.; Peters, S.O; Donato, Marcos De; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Wheto, M.; Imumorin, I.GTrypanosoma vivax (sub-genus Duttonella) is largely responsible for non profitable livestock production in sub-Sahara Africa. In Nigeria, no study has addressed the molecular characteristic of T. vivax except Y486. Hence, we characterized and assessed the genetic diversity among T. vivax detected in naturally infected cattle in Nigeria using internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of ribosoma DNA (rDNA) and diagnostic antigen gene (DAG) sequences. The length of ITS1 and DAG sequences range from 215–220 to 257–338 bp, respectively and the mean G–C contents were 60 and 61.5 %. Homology search revealed 93–99 and 95–100 % homologies to T. vivax DAG and ITS1 sequences from GenBank. Aligned sequences revealed both ITS1 rDNA and DAG to be less polymorphic but DAG sequences of the Y486 strain and its clone showed marked variation from autochthonous strains. Phylogenetic analysis yielded tree that grouped T. vivax ITS1rDNA gene and DAG sequences into two main clades each. Considering the ITI1 rDNA sequences, clade A contained autochthonous T. vivax within which the South American sequences clustered, clade B contained the sequences of T. vivax from East Africa. Analysis of DAG revealed that the clade A contains autochthonous T. vivax sequences but clade B contained the Y486 and its clones. In conclusion, the diagnostic antigen gene sequences of the T. vivax detected in this study may have undergone considerable gene recombination through time and suggests that more than one strain of T. vivax exist among cattle population in NigeriaItem Open Access Genetic diversity analysis of the mitochondrial D-loop of Nigerian indigenous sheep(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2012-03-06) Agaviezor, B.O; Adefenwa, M.A; Peters, S.O; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Adebambo, O.A; Ozoje, M.O; Ikeobi, C.O.N; Ilori, B.M; Wheto, M.; Ajayi, O.O; Amusan, S.A; Okpeku, M.; Donato, M. De; Imumorin, I.GIndigenous livestock resources are strategic in the socio-economics of rural agricultural systems to ensure food security in resourcepoor countries. Therefore, better understanding of genetic variation holds the key to future utilization through conservation. We report the first analysis of genetic diversity of Nigerian sheep based on the D-loop region of the Ovis aries mitochondrial genome using 1 179 bases between sites 15 437 and 16 616 base pairs. A sample of 290 animals made up of Balami, West African Dwarf (WAD), Uda and Yankasa breeds were randomly collected from across Nigeria. Ninety-six haplotypes were observed with a high mean haplotype diversity of 0.899 ± 0.148. Gene diversity was highest in Uda (0.921 ± 0.021) and lowest in WAD (0.852 ± 0.061). Population specific FST indices varied from 0.00133 in Uda to 0.00335 in WAD. Yankasa had the highest number of polymorphic sites (201), while the least was in Uda (96). Analysis of molecular variance revealed that 0.23 percent of the variation is found among populations compared with 99.77 percent variation found within populations. The phylogenetic tree indicates that the mitochondrial lineages of these sheep breeds originated from a common source consistent with first divergence of Yankasa followed by WAD, while Balami and Uda remain more closely related. These results suggest that evolutionary divergence of Nigerian sheep breeds based on mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequence may be coincident with geographical distribution in Nigeria and suggest significant interbreeding. This could have implications for managing improvement and conservation strategies and long-term conservation of Nigerian indigenous sheep.Item Open Access Genetic Diversity of Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Population in South Eastern Nigeria Using Microsatellite Markers(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2021-01-08) Adeolua, A.I; Wheto, M.; Oleforuh-Okolehc, V. U; Nwose, R. N; Adenaike, A. S; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Abiola, E. M; Mohammed, B. GA study was conducted to estimate the diversity that exists among three rabbit populations adapted to the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. Blood samples were collected from 75 matured, mixed-sex, and unrelated three rabbit breeds selected across the zone. Eight microsatellites (Sol30, Sol33, and Sol44, Sat3, Sat7, Sat8, Sat12, and INRA) markers were used for the study. These microsatellites were uniformly distributed among rabbit genomes for genotyping. Subsequently, genetic variability within and between breeds was calculated. Allelic frequencies and Hardy-Weinberg equilibriums as well as Analysis of Molecular Variance, were also estimated using GenAlEX 6.41 software. Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components (DAPC) for the population structure of the rabbit breeds was performed in R v.3.5.0 using the R package adegenet. All the 8 loci amplified in this study were found to be 100% polymorphic, the observed allele sizes and their frequencies for the microsatellite markers in every three breeds showed that the highest frequency was 0.330 for the allele with the size of 470bp at Sol33 locus in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. The Nei’s genetic identities and distances between Chinchilla (CHI) and Dutch (DUT), CHI and NZW, DUT and NZW obtained in this study were [0.173, 0.185, and 0.189] and [1.753, 1.689, and 1.666] respectively. The dendrogram and biplot revealed that the three breeds were identified at two separate clusters. In addition, the admixture level of an individual rabbit among the three breeds indicated that the breeds were not pure and also the existence of more polymorphism within the breed than among the breed diversity.Item Open Access Molecular Diagnosis of Subclinical African Trypanosoma vivax Infection and Association with Physiological Indices and Serum Metabolites in Extensively Managed Goats in the Tropics(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2013-06-27) Sanni, Timothy M; Onasanya, Gbolabo O; Adefenwa, Mufliat A; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Ikeobi, C.O.N; Adebambo, O.A; Talabi, Adewale O.; Ozoje, M.O; Wheto, M.; Takeet, Michael I.; Peters, S.O; Donato, Marcos De; Thomas, Bolaji N.; Imumorin, I.GTrypanosomosis remains a major challenge to livestock production in much of tropical Sub-Saharan Africa, while diagnosis and treatment still depend on inefficient parasitological techniques. Endemic infections depend on animal reservoirs with subclinical parasitemia. We report molecular diagnosis of subclinical Trypanosoma vivax (T. vivax) infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the first time in Nigerian goats and associate parasite presence with gross physiological traits and serum metabolites in extensively managed Nigerian goats. PCR was used to amplify a 400 bp DNA fragment of the parasite genome in 205 goats across three geographical zones of the country. Results showed a high subclinical infection rate (SCIR) of 71.7% in the total goats examined. Overall SCIRs of 71%, 75.9% and 55.6% were recorded in West African Dwarf, Red Sokoto and Sahel goats respectively, while geographical SCIRs were 71.2% (Southwest), 75% (Northwest) and 70% (Northeast). T. vivax presence had significant (P < 0.05) effect on respiratory rate and is associated with higher creatinine levels in sera. Logistic regression analyses with Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness- of-fit showed that respiratory rate is the most important predictive trait for the presence of T. vivax infection (P < 0.05). Goats appear to be a viable reservoir for T. vivax infection of other livestock. Molecular diagnosis of subclinical trypanosomosis using PCR could be useful for large scale epidemiological studies, early diagnosis of subclinical infection and treatment of the disease in extensively managed tropical goats.Item Open Access Molecular survey of pathogenic trypanosomes in naturally infected Nigerian cattle(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2013-09-12) Takeet, Michael I.; Fagbemi, Benjamin O.; Donato, Marcos De; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Rodulfo, Hectorina E.; Peters, S.O; Wheto, M.; Imumorin, I.GMicroscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to survey pathogenic trypanosome infection in naturally infected Nigerian cattle. In 411 animals sampled, microscopy detected 15.1% positive infection of at least one of Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma congolense or Trypanosoma vivax, while PCR detected 63.7% positive infections of at least one of those species and Trypanosoma evansi. PCR detected 4.4%, 48.7%, 26.0% and 0.5% respectively of T. brucei, T. congolense, T. vivax and T. evansi infections. All of the T. congolense detected were savannah-type, except for two forest-type infections. Prevalence of mixed infections was 13.9%, being primarily co-infection by T. congolense and T. vivax while prevalence of mixed infections by T. evansi, T. vivax and T. congolense was 1.5%. Microscopy showed poor sensitivity but specificity greater than 94%. Infection rates were much higher in Southern than in Northern Nigeria. Infections were lowest in N’dama compared to Muturu, Sokoto Gudali and White Fulani breeds. Animals with T. vivax monoinfection and mixed infections showed significantly lower packed cell volume (PCV) values. Those infected with any Trypanosoma species with <200 parasites/ll showed higher PCV values than those infected with >200 parasites/ll. The new finding of savannah- and forest- type T. congolense in Nigeria and the relatively high abundance of mixed infections are of significant clinical relevance. This study also suggests that T. congolense is the most prevalent species in NigeriaItem Open Access Molecular-based detection of sub-clinical African Trypanosoma vivax infection and its association with some selected serum biochemical references and blood electrolytes in four traditionally bred Nigerian native Sheep.(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2018-09-12) Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Onasanya, Gbolabo O; Sanni, Timothy M; Amusan, A. S; Decampos, J.S; Talabi, Adewale O.; Ozoje, M.O; Balogun, Joshua Babalola; Wheto, M.; Ikeobi, C.O.NTrypanosomosis remains a major challenge to livestock production in much of tropical Sub- Saharan Africa, while diagnosis and treatment still depends on inefficient parasitological techniques. Endemic infections of trypanosomosis depend on animal reservoirs with sub-clinical parasitemia. We report molecular diagnosis of sub-clinical Trypanosoma vivax (T. vivax) infection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the first time in Nigerian sheep and associate parasite presence with gross physiological traits and biochemical references in extensively managed tropical sheep. PCR was used to amplify a 400 bp DNA fragment of the parasite genome in 161 sheep of both sexes across four geographical zones of Nigeria. Results showed a high sub-clinical infection rate (SCIR) of 73.9% in the total sheep investigated. Overall, SCIRs of 85.4%, 75%, 62.5% and 72.5% were recorded in Balami, West African Dwarf, Uda and Yankassa sheep, respectively; while geographical SCIRs were 73.5 % (South-West), 71.7 % (North-West), 73.5 % (North-East) and 88.0 % (North-Central). SCIRs of 73.5 % were found in ewes and 76.3 % in rams. T. vivax infection presence had a significant (p<0.05) effect on blood urea nitrogen (BUN), Alanine transaminase or Alanine aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) where infected sheep had a higher ALP levels of 242.24 +21.72 IU/dl than non-infected sheep (189.86 +10.77 IU/dl). Also T. vivax infected sheep had higher AST (185.92+13.90 IU/L) than non-infected counterparts (167.31+15.58 IU/L). Tropical sheep appear to be a fertile reservoir for T. vivax infection of other livestock. Molecular diagnosis of sub-clinical trypanosomosis using PCR-based assay is suitable for large scale epidemiological studies of trypanosomosis, early diagnosis of sub-clinical infection and treatment of the disease in extensively managed tropical sheepItem Open Access Morphological and microsatellite DNA diversity of Nigerian indigenous sheep(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2012-04-22) Agaviezor, B.O; Peters, S,O; Adefenwa, Mufliat A; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Adebambo, O.A; Ozoje, M.O; Ikeobi, C.O.N; Wheto, M.; Ajayi, O.O; Amusan, S.A; Ekundayo, Oludotun J; Sanni, Timothy M; Okpeku, M; Onasanya, Gbolabo O; Donato, Marcos De; Ilori, Babatunde M; Kizilkaya, Kadir; Imumorin, I.GBackground: Sheep is important in the socio-economic lives of people around the world. It is estimated that more than half of our once common livestock breeds are now endangered. Since genetic characterization of Nigerian sheep is still lacking, we analyzed ten morphological traits on 402 animals and 15 microsatellite DNA markers in 384 animals of the 4 Nigerian sheep breeds to better understand genetic diversity for breeding management and germplasm conservation. Results: Morphological traits of Uda and Balami were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than Yankasa, which were both higher than West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. Stepwise discriminant analysis showed tail length, rump height, chest girth, ear length and chest depth as the most discriminating variables for classification. Mahalanobis distances show the least differentiation between Uda and Balami and the largest between WAD and Balami sheep. While 93.3% of WAD sheep were correctly assigned to their source genetic group, 63.9% of Yankasa, 61.2% of Balami and 45.2% of Uda were classified correctly by nearest neighbour discriminant analysis. The overall high Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) of all microsatellite markers ranged from 0.751 to 0.927 supporting their use in genetic characterization. Expected heterozygosity was high for all loci (0.783 to 0.93). Mean heterozygote deficiency across all populations (0.171 to 0.534) possibly indicate significant inbreeding (P < 0.05). Mean values for FST, FIT and FIS statistics across all loci were 0.088, 0.394 and 0.336 respectively. Yankasa and Balami are the most closely related breeds (DA = 0.184) while WAD and Balami are the farthest apart breeds (DA = 0.665), which is coincident with distance based on morphological analysis and population structure assessed by STRUCTURE. Conclusions: These results suggest that within-breed genetic variation in Nigerian sheep is higher than between-breeds and may be a valuable tool for genetic improvement and conservation. The higher genetic variability in Yankasa suggests the presence of unique ancestral alleles reflecting the presence of certain functional genes which may result in better adaptability in more agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. These genetic characteristics are potentially useful in planning improvement and conservation strategies in Nigerian indigenous sheepItem Open Access SEQUENCE ANALYSES OF INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR 1 GENE IN NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS AND ARBOR ACRE CHICKENS(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2022-09-10) Wheto, M.; ISMAILA, O.O; Adeleke, M.A; Adenaike, A. S; Peters, S.O; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Adebambo, A.O; Ikeobi, C.O.N; Adebambo, O.AThe chicken Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is a candidate gene for growth, body composition and metabolism, skeletal characteristics and growth of adipose tissue and fat deposition in chickens. It is mapped to 165.95 cM on chromosome 1 and composed of four exons and three introns, spanning more than 50 kb. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples collected from the experimental birds using Qiagen DNA extraction kits. Polymersae chain reaction (PCR) was carried out using established primers. The PCR amplicon involving 5’untranslated region were sequenced. The sequences were analysed to identify polymorphisms, their genetic diversities and evolutionary relationships among three strains of Nigerian indigenous chickens [Frizzle Feathered (7), Normal Feathered (19) and Naked Neck (19), and the Arbor Acre broiler chicken (17)]. Nucleotide sequences generated were edited and aligned using Codon Code Aligner. Diversity analysis was done using DnaSp while MEGA6 software was used to plot phylogenetic tree using maximum likelihood method. A total of nineteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected from 560 bp portions of the 5’UTR among the four chicken populations studied with none detected in the Frizzle feathered chicken. The Naked neck chicken had the highest number of SNP’s (13), haplotypes (6), haplotype diversity (0.778), nucleotide diversity (0.00487), average number of nucleotide differences (2.725), highest number of polymorphic (segregating) sites (13), parsimony informative site (5) and singleton variable site (8). The Naked neck chicken therefore had the highest rate of mutation and degree of allelic variation compared to other chicken strains used in this study. The phylogenetic tree showed that small genetic differentiation exists among the chicken populations studied. Some of the SNPs are newly discovered; hence, association between these alleles and productive traits in Nigerian native chickens is desirable in future studies.Item Open Access SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF EXON 1 AND INTRON 1 OF GROWTH HORMONE GENE IN SIX CHICKEN GENOTYPES RAISED IN TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT(Department of Animal Science, Nasarawa State University, Keffi., 2022-04-12) Wheto, M.; Oguntuase, Ayodele Emmanuel; Adenaike, A.S; Chima, Nkiruka Goodness; Ojoawo, Henry Temitope; Yakubu, Abdulmojeed; Adebambo, A.O; Adebambo, O.AChicken growth hormone (cGH) is a polypeptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland which is responsible for several functions such as tissue growth and reproduction in chickens. This study was conducted to characterize six chicken genotypes using exon 1 and intron 1 regions of cGH gene sequences. One hundred and thirty-four (134) chickens comprising Normal feather (19), Naked neck (21), Frizzle feather (8), Arbor Acre (24), FUNAAB Alpha-1 (dihybrid) (31), and FUNAAB Alpha-2 (trihybrid) (31) were used for the study. Blood samples were collected from the birds into EDTA bottles for DNA extraction. The exon 1 and intron 1 regions of cGH were amplified using published primers. The product of the polymerase chain reaction was subjected to Sanger sequencing. DnaSP5 software was used to determine the diversity indices and MEGA6 software was used to determine the phylogenetic relationships among the six chicken genotypes and other chicken sequences. Fifteen (15) SNPs were identified in intron 1 and none in exon 1 of the cGH gene in all the six genotypes, and nine (9) of the SNPs occurred as transitions while others were transversions. The allele frequency ranged from 0.30 to 0.95 while the highest heterozygosity (0.66) was observed in mutation 410A>C in Naked neck genotype and lowest heterozygosity observed in Arbor Acre at SNP 330C>T. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) was at the maximum in SNP 410A>C in Naked neck genotype with a value of 0.92. The exon 1 phylogeny tree revealed two clades where all the genotypes diverged. Intron 1 revealed two clades where Frizzle feather clustered with FUNAAB Alpha-1, Naked neck and FUNAAB Alpha-2 clustered together at one of the sub-clades in the second clade. Network analysis revealed Normal feather chicken as the major ancestor of all the genotypes. The study concluded that intron 1 of cGH is polymorphic in all the six chicken genotypes investigated, and this can be used as candidate gene for selection in growth-related traits.