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Toxicity of Nittol detergent on the histopathology of the African catfish (C. gariepinus) sub adult was investigated. The experiment was conducted in triplicates of four treatments. Behavioral changes in fish exposed to different concentrations of Nittol detergent ranged from erratic swimming, moribund movement, jumping and lack of balance. Similar changes were not observed in the control throughout the experiment. Nittol detergent is composed of linear Alkyl Benzene Sulphonate (LABS), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, sodium perborate and sodium silicate (perfume) as active ingredients. The fish were exposed to concentrations 1.0 g/L, 2.0 g/L, 3.0 g/L and 4.0 g/L. At 1.0 g/l concentration, the mean mortality was 80% with an initial erratic swimming. It was observed that mean mortality increased drastically with increase in concentration of the pollutant (Nittol detergent). At concentration 3.0 g/L, total mortality was observed within 72 hours of exposure preceding moribund swimming while total mortality was observed in 4.0 g/L. The concentration at which 50% of the experimental fish were killed (LC50) was 1.9 g/L. Results from statistical analysis indicated that mortality varied (p<0.05) significantly with concentrations as higher values recorded higher mortalities. However, mean values showed highest mortality (74%) with Nittol detergent. Histopathology of the liver of fish exposed to Nittol after 96hrs revealed severe damage and necrosis of the liver cells when compared with the control which had a normal distribution of hepatic cells. Similarly, results from histopathology of the gills of the exposed fish to Nittol detergent revealed fusion and damages to gills lamellae when compared with the control which has normal distribution of the gills lamellae. Severe changes in the epithelia of the gill arch were also observed. Findings from histopathology of the intestine also revealed severe damages to the intestinal walls and mucosa when compared with the control. Images from the histopathology of the gills revealed severe damages to the gill lamellae by the Nittol detergent whereas the control showed a normal distribution of gills lamellae. And in the same vein, histopathology result on the effect of Nittol Detergent on the intestine of the exposed fish revealed chronic damages to the intestinal mucosa when viewed with motic electron microscope at x10 magnification. It was therefore concluded that Nittol Detergent causes significant and severe damages to C. gariepinus and recommended the control disposal of this detergent into aquatic bodies to reduce the negative impact on the histopathology of aquatic organisms.

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The reaction of Amaranthus hybridus to Telfairia mosaic virus (TeMV) infection was investigated. Infected and healthy (control) leaf samples were obtained, pulverized and analyzed to determine the nutritional quality of the vegetable due to TeMV infection. Results obtained revealed that the virus caused significant (p<0.05) reductions in fibre (50.9%), fat (49.7%) and protein (32.5%) in infected samples compared to healthy ones. The virus also engendered significant reductions in the contents of Na, P, Fe, Mg, Cu and Ca with marginal reduction for K in infected samples when compared to the healthy. The TeMV caused significant reduction in phytic acid while infection led to increases in total oxalate, soluble oxalate and hydrocyanide acid. The virus caused significant reductions (p<0.05) in vitamin A (55.43%), C (43.1%), B 1 (34.6%), B 2 (26.6%), B 6 (17.8%) and B 3 (13.1%), respectively while, reduction in vitamin E was insignificant. The reaction of amino acids profile of Amaranthus hybridus to TeMV infection revealed significance decrease in methionine (35.3%), valine (34.1%), cysteine (31.9%), arginine (26.1%), isoleucine (25.9%), glycine (22.8%), lysine (17.3%), threonine (15.0%), phenylalanine (12.1%) and leucine (11.8%). Increases in infected samples were obtained for glutamic acid (19.8%), aspartic acid (9.5%) and proline (8.9%). Amaranthus hybridus reaction to TeMV infection revealed marked reductions in the nutritional quality of the vegetable that is a major source of nutrient for both rural and urban dwellers.

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Background: The toxic effect of Nittol detergent on the haematological parameters of the African catfish (C. gariepinus) sub-adult was investigated. The experiment was conducted in triplicates forthe four treatments. Behavioral changes in fish exposed to different concentrations of Nittol detergent ranged from erratic swimming, moribund movement, jumping and lack of balance. Similar changes were not observed in the control throughout the experiment. Nittol detergent is composed of linear alkyl benzene sulphonate (LABS), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, sodium per-borate and sodium silicate (perfume) as active ingredients. The fish were exposed to concentrations 1.0 g/L, 2.0 g/L, 3.0 g/L and 4.0g/L. At 1.0 g/l concentration, the mean mortality was 80% with an initial erratic swimming. Results: It was observed that mean mortality increased drastically with increasing Nittol Detergent  concentrations. At a concentration 3.0 g/L, total mortality was observed within 72 hours of exposure preceding moribund swimming while total mortality was observed at 4.0 g/L. The concentration at which 50% of the experimental fishes were killed (LC50) was 0.9 g/L. Results from statistical analysis indicated that mortality varied significantly with concentrations as higher values recorded higher mortality rates. However, mean values showed the highest mortality (74%) with Nittol detergent. Haematological results obtained from blood profile analysis showed various degrees of alterations and changes in values when compared to the control. The PCV of the exposed fish was 26% when compared to 27% in the control, HB was 8.9 (GDL) as against 9.0 Gdl of the control, total WBC was 640 x 109/L as against 1280 x 109/L of the control. The RBC reading was 4.7 compared to 5.3 (mm3) of the control. For the differential counts, the lymphocyte was 80%. Neutrophils were 4 % and monocyte 16% compared to 62%, 8% and 30% of the control respectively. The results revealed a significant decrease in PCV counts for 8.0, 16.0, 25.0, and 50.0ml/l concentration when compared to the control. There revealed significant decrease of haemoglobin count for 8.0 ml/l group (p>0.05) and significant decrease for 16.0 ml/l, 25.0 ml/l and 50.0 ml/l groups (p<0.05), when compared to the control. The results showed insignificant decrease of RBC count for 1.0 g/l (p>0.05) and a significant decrease for the 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 g/l groups (p<0.05), compared to the control. This means that as the toxicant concentration increased, the fish red blood count decreased the more. This further implies that at higher concentration of, RBC reduces correspondingly. Lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils in the control set showed (apparently normal cell after) hematoxylin and eosin staining. Differential blood samples exposed to various concentrations of Nittol Detergent showed denatured cells, haemolysis and blood cell shrinkage. Conclusion: It was therefore concluded that Nittol Detergent has significant toxic effect on the haematological parameters of C. gariepinus and recommended the control disposal of this detergent into aquatic bodies to reduce the negative impact on the blood quality of aquatic organisms.

The effect of Telfairia Mosaic Virus (TeMV) on the growth characteristics of two ecotypes of Telfairia occidentalis was investigated. Seeds of T. occidentalis obtained from Akparabong in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State were designated ecotype A and seeds from Eket in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State were designated ecotype B. Infection of T. occidentalis by TeMV caused significant reductions (p<0.05) in leaf area, shoot height, leaf number, leaf fresh and dry weight, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root. Percentage difference values for the above parameters were 57.

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