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Volume 9 Number 1 July 2023

Bacteria Load Assessment from Hands of Students in a Tertiary University in South-South Nigeria


Authors: Iyevhobu Kenneth Oshiokhayamhe ; Ken-Iyevhobu Benedicta Agumeile ; Omolumen Lucky Eromosele, et. al.
Pages: 44-49
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/jbr.91.44.49
Abstract
Clean hands are the single most important factor in preventing the spread of pathogens and reducing the incidence of infections. The good hand hygiene practices promote health safety and prevent infections. This study was carried out to assess the presence of bacteria from hands of Ambrose Alli University Students. Of all fifty (50) samples analyzed, at least one or two bacteria were isolated. The colony counts of students from each site were properly recorded with the highest found amongst dwellers of male hostels i.e 4.85 x 105cfu/ml, compared to dwellers at female hostels. However, there was considerable increase amongst students at Microbiology laboratory, which may be attributed to lack of good hand hygiene procedures not been adhered to. The considerable increase in the frequency of Escherichia coli and as well as Proteus sp is indicative of poor hygiene practices. The low colony counts recorded amongst students from school gate could be as a result of the student have taken their bath before coming to school. The frequency of occurrence of the isolates includes: Staphylococcus aureus 50 (100%), Escherichia coli 35 (70%), Klebsiella sp 15 (30%), Salmonella sp 21 (42%), Streptococcus sp 10 (20%), Bacillus sp 4 (8%), Pseudomonas sp 2 (4%) and Proteus sp 2 (4%). From the study, it was shown that there was considerable increase in poor hygienic practices amongst students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma Edo State, Nigeria.

Review on Lumpy Skin Disease Virus Characteristics and its Diagnosis in Cattle


Authors: Samson Terefe Kassa
Pages: 33-43
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/jbr.91.33.43
Abstract
Lumpy skin disease is characterized by its signs including eruptive, infectious and occasionally causing death to affected animals. It is caused by the family Poxviridea and genus Capripox with a strain of Neethling virus, a double stranded DNA virus. LSD clinical signs are mainly observed on skin as nodules (0.5 to 5 cm in diameter) throughout the skin surface or subcutaneous tissue involving superficial lymph nodes. Diagnosis of CaPV is based upon clinical signs with laboratory confirmation by virus isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and electron microscopy. Field diagnosis of LSD is often based on characteristic clinical signs of the disease. However, mild and subclinical forms require rapid and reliable laboratory testing to confirm diagnosis. Isolation of virus can be made from collected biopsy or at post-mortem from skin nodules, lung lesions or lymph nodes within the first week of the occurrence of clinical signs, before the development of neutralizing antibodies. There are different methods to detect LSD virus antibody from blood samples. These are serum neutralization test (SNT), indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay. LSD as a member of CaPVs, it has a single serotype, do not cause persistent infection, have a limited host range and vaccines are available that may provide long term immunity. These attributes increase the prospect of successfully implementing regional control programs, leading to the elimination of the virus and conceivably global eradication.

Screening and Validation of Rice OsAAP6 Interaction Protein


Authors: Bo Peng ; Jing Qiu ; Dong-Yan Kong, et. al.
Pages: 21-32
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/jbr.91.21.32
Abstract
The protein content of rice seeds is an extremely important quality trait, but its genetic basis and molecular regulatory mechanism are still unclear. This study focuses on a positive regulatory gene OsAAP6 of grain protein content in rice. Proteins that interact with OsAAP6 were screened using yeast two hybrid experiments, and validated using in vivo point-to-point experiments and bimolecular fluorescence complementarity tests (BiFC). The main results are as follows: 98 positive colonies that may interact with OsAAP6 were screened from a rice cDNA library using yeast two hybrid technology. After sequencing and analysis, 40 proteins that may interact with OsAAP6 were ultimately obtained. Through comparative analysis, three proteins (Pyruvate phosphate dikinase (PPDR), WRKY, and GreA) were selected from these 40 proteins that may interact with each other. In vivo point-to-point experiments in yeast and bimolecular fluorescence complementarity (BiFC) experiments in rice were used to further verify that PPDK, WRKY, and GreA can interact with OsAAP6 protein, respectively. Therefore, the results of this study will provide important clues for further revealing the molecular mechanism by which the OsAAP6 gene regulates grain protein content.

Anaerobic Digestion for Biomethane Production from Food Waste Pretreated by Enzymatic Hydrolysis


Authors: Nibedita Deb ; Md. Zahangir Alam ; Tawfkur Rahman, et. al.
Pages: 6-20
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/jbr.91.6.20
Abstract
Food waste (FW) is one of the main problems in the world due to the continuous increase in the global population. Anaerobic digestion (AD) of FW was an alternative and economical solution to develop an effective method to enhance biomethane (BioM) production that uses enzyme pretreatment and hydrolysis of FW by locally produced cellulase and amylase enzymes. In this study, two types of sources fungi (TNAF-1 to TNFA-3) and (TNBC-1 to TNBC-3) strains were isolated from animal feed and compost. The cellulase and amylase activities were 300U/mL & 400U/mL, respectively. Based on OFAT results obtained, optimization of three factors such as pH of 5, TS of 12.5% (V/V) and enzyme loading of 80U/mL was carried out by applying the FCCCD under the RSM to develop a second-order regression model successful improvement in the production of reducing sugar of 162mg/mL was achieved. However, biogas yield was optimum using OFAT parameters such as the biogas inoculum of 25%, pH of 7, AD digestion times of 29 days, 500mL of hydrolysate food waste and room temperature at 30°C (±2). The results show the biogas contained was found such %3 hydrogens, 57% methane and 40% carbon dioxide. The new fungi are very potential for upgrading the biogas of BioM that is non-toxic as well as biodegradable, and therefore may be encouraging to the water treatment plants in future applications.

Influence of Beers of Different Alcohol Concentration on Haematological Indices of Male Albino Rats


Authors: Chinedu Imo
Pages: 1-5
DOI: doi.org/10.32861/jbr.91.1.5
Abstract
Background and Objective: This study investigated the influence of beers of different alcohol content on haematological indices of male albino rats. Materials and Methods: Three brands of beers commonly consumed within Nigeria were purchased and administered to the experimental animals for 21 days. Group 1 was the control. Group 2 and group 3 were administered 10 mL/kg bw and 20 mL/kg bw of beer A respectively. Group 4 and group 5 were administered 10 mL/kg bw and 20 mL/kg bw of beer B respectively, while group 6 and group 7 were administered 10 mL/kg bw and 20 mL/kg bw of beer C respectively. The haematological analysis was carried out using Abacus 380. Results: White blood cell (WBC) count increased in all the test groups compared with the normal control. The increase is significant (P<0.05) in groups 3, 5, 6 and 7. Lymphocyte (LYM) increased non-significantly (P>0.05) in groups 2, 5, 6 and 7, but reduced non-significantly (P>0.05) in groups 3 and 4 compared to the control. Mid-size cells (MID) reduced non-significantly (P>0.05) in group 6, but increased non-significantly (P>0.05) in groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 compared to the control. Granulocyte (GRA) increased non-significantly (P>0.05) in group 6, but reduced non-significantly (P>0.05) in groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 compared to the control. Red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) showed no significant alteration (P>0.05) in all the test groups compared to the control. RBC reduced in all the test groups; Hb reduced in groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, but increased in group 6, while PCV reduced in groups 2, 4 and 7, but increased in groups 3, 5 and 6.  Platelet (PLT) and plateletcrit (PCT) increased significantly (P<0.05) in groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, but increased non-significantly (P>0.05) in group 6 compared to the control. Conclusion: The result showed that regular consumption of these beers of different concentrations as used in this study may induce intoxication and influence certain immune indexes, but may not induce anaemia. It also encourages the production of platelets and may promote the stoppage of bleeding resulting from an injury.