Cattle production is integral to the people of Africa and her economy. To improve cattle productivity, there is a need to inculcate molecular marker-assisted selection into current breeding practices. In this study, we investigated, in White Fulani and Muturu cattle breeds, polymorphism of two candidate genes (Smoothened-SMO and Lipase Maturation Factor 1-LMF1) that have been reported to influence body size in cattle. The SMO gene encodes for the SMO (smoothened) receptor protein; a membrane signal transducer that plays a role in the control of bone formation and adipogenesis. LMF1 encodes for the LMF1 protein which regulates post-translational maturation of vascular lipases. Desired regions of the genes were amplified and genotyped by direct DNA sequencing or Polymerase chain reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism. For association study, linear body measurements traits (BMTs) that can be used to predict body size were measured on each animal and values of BMTs measured were compared between both breeds. Very significant (P < 0.001) differences, in favour of White Fulani, were observed for all the BMTs compared. Six (6) previously reported SNP (G21234C, C22424T and C22481T, T22939C, C23329T and T23458G) were found on the SMO while LMF1 was monomorphic at the expected (T > C) exon 4 mutation site. Association analysis revealed that polymorphism on G21234C, C22424T, T22939C and T23458G loci significantly affected BMTs (P < 0.05 or 0.01) in both cattle breeds. The outcome of this study showed that SMO gene could be a useful candidate gene to facilitate marker assisted selection for body size while LMF1

Pituitary Specific transcription factor 1 (PIT-1) gene is one of the POU gene family and play key roles in the regulation of muscle development which is important for body weight in chickens. This study was carried out to detect the polymorphism of PIT-1 gene and study its association with body weight in Fulani and Yoruba ecotype of Nigerian indigenous chickens. A total of 100 day-old chicks comprising of fifty chicks of Fulani and Yoruba ecotypes were used for this study. These chicks were genotyped using PCR-RFLP technique and their growth rate was also measured throughout the study. Our results showed two alleles A and B controlling genotypes AA and AB which were significantly associated with bodyweight of the chickens. Interestingly, we found out that AA genotype had the highest frequency of 0.64 and 0.76 compared with AB genotype which had a frequency of 0.36 and 0.24 in the Fulani and Yoruba ecotype respectively. Furthermore, the PIT-1 genotypes (AA and AB) were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with body weight at week 4 and week 12 in Fulani and Yoruba ecotype chicken respectively. PIT-1 gene was polymorphic in Fulani and Yoruba ecotypes of Nigeria Indigenous Chickens.

No abstract

Cattle are arguably the most important livestock species. Since the beginning of this century, the loss of genetic diversity within this species has been a major concern as this could have serious consequences on the ability of this species to respond to future production constraints. Genetic diversity has traditionally been accessed from pedigree, however, with the advances in molecular genetics new opportunities have emerged. We examined different methods for accessing genetic diversity and estimating genetic diversity parameters at the genomic level. We also examined criteria and strategies for the conservation of animal genetic resources. Finally, we examined genomic studies on some endangered cattle breeds.

<p class="MDPI17abstract"><strong>Objective: </strong>This study was aimed to characterize three different cattle breeds based on the morphometrics.</p><p class="MDPI17abstract"><strong>Methods: </strong>Five (5) morphometrics which include body length (BL), chest girth (CG), withers height (WH), rump length (RL) and chest depth (CD) were measured in each animal. A total of 119 cows belonging to White Fulani (40 heads), Muturu (40 heads) and Pasundan (39 heads) were used in this study. The age of animal study was 20.93±1.62 months (White Fulani), 21.63±1.75 months (Muturu) and 20.46±2.99 months (Pasundan). Hence, two statistical methods of canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) methods were computed in this study to characterize of animals based on their morphometrics using SPSS 16.0 package.<strong></strong></p><p class="MDPI17abstract"><strong>Results: </strong>Mostly<strong> </strong>the morphometrics of White Fulani and Pasundan cows are similar while those of Muturu are significantly lower than the two other breeds. Four morphometric measurements of CG, RL, BL and WH were identified as a discriminator variables in animal study based on the CDA method. The CDA of morphometrics able to classify 85% (White Fulani), 100% (Muturu) and 74.4% (Pasundan) of the animal into their original breed group.<strong></strong></p><p class="MDPI17abstract"><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The closeness between observations from White Fulani and Pasundan might be due to them being both Zebu (<em>Bos indicus</em>) unlike the Muturu with a type breed of <em>Bos bracycheros</em>.<strong></strong></p>

No abstract

Cattle production is an important aspect of animal agriculture. Disease predisposition in cattle can lead to lowered productivity and poor animal welfare. To select and breed for the fittest cattle population, it is expedient that we understand the genetic basis of disease tolerance/resistance. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a vital component of the immune system in vertebrates. Its genes are crucial determinants for immune response and resistance to infectious diseases. The bovine MHC is referred to as Bovine Lymphocyte antigen (BoLA) with its most functional and highly variable region located in the exon 2 (BoLA-DRB3.2). Over 100 alleles of BoLA-DRB3.2 have been identified in cattle and many studies have associated polymorphism in this region with disease resistance/susceptibility. In this study, we investigated the polymorphic nature of BoLA-DRB3.2 in the White Fulani and Muturu cattle breeds using a single PCR-sequence based typing. We identified 26 and 25 alleles in White Fulani and Muturu breeds, respectively, with only six alleles being mutual in the two breeds. Some of the alleles identified in this study have been noted as markers for disease status in cattle. BoLA-DRB3*014:01:01, BoLA-DRB3*011:01, and BoLA-DRB3*008:01 alleles have been associated with Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) resistance in cattle. BoLA-DRB3*014:01:01, BoLA-DRB3*001:01, and BoLA-DRB3*011:01 were linked with mastitis resistance in Japanese Holstein cows. While no inference can be drawn in terms of association with disease status, this study confirms the highly polymorphic and diverse nature of BoLA-DRB3 in White Fulani and Muturu cattle breeds.

This study evaluated the standardized ileal amino acid digestibility of two varieties of pigeon pea in broiler chicks. The experiment was carried out at the Poultry Unit of the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ibadan, Nigeria between May and July, 2019. Two hundred and forty (240) one-day old Abor Acre plus-strain broiler chicks were fed a commercial broiler starter diet for 15 days. On day 16, the birds were weighed, tagged and randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments (Diet 1: Nitrogen Free Diet (NFD); Diet 2: Highly Digestible Protein (HDP); Diet 3: Red Pigeon Pea (RPP), Diet 4: White Pigeon Pea (WPP) with 6 replicates and 10 birds each in a randomized complete block design. On day 21, birds were sacrificed and digesta collected from terminal ileum. The Endogenous Amino Acid Losses (EAAL), Apparent Ileal Amino Acid Digestibility (AIAAD), Standardized Ileal Amino Acid Digestibility (SIAAD) were estimated. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at P = .05. Higher EAA flow (P < .001) was recorded in lysine and aspartic acid for NFD while endogenous alanine flow was higher in HDP. Arginine had the lowest apparent digestibility values for both WPP and RPP. Apparent digestibility values of histidine, phenylalanine, valine, aspartic acid, glycine, proline and serine in WPP were significantly (P = .05) higher than in RPP with their corresponding higher (P = .05) SID values. Arginine had the lowest SIAAD value when AIAAD was corrected with HDP or NFD. In conclusion, WPP had higher CP level as well as higher digestibility values for some amino acids than RPP. The method used for standardization did not affect SIAAD values corrected with NFD or HDP for WPP and RPP respectively. Therefore, either of the two methods can be used to correct for endogenous amino acid losses.