Prevalence of Porcine Rotavirus Antigen and Associated Risk Factors in Pig-Raising Communities and Institutional Piggeries in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Study of the Methylation of Bovine GSTP1 Gene under the Influence of Pesticide Mospilan 20SP Alone and in Combination with Pesticide Orius 25EW

DNA methylation, one of the most studied epigenetic mechanisms, when present in the promoter region of genes, causes inhibition of gene expression, and conversely, hypomethylation of these regions enables gene expression. DNA methylation is susceptible to nutritional and environmental influences, and undesirable alterations in methylation patterns manifested in changes in the expression of relevant genes can lead to pathological consequences. In the present work, we studied the methylation status of the bovine GSTP1 gene under the influence of pesticide Mospilan 20SP alone and in combination with pesticide Orius 25EW in in vitro proliferating bovine lymphocytes. We employed methylation-specific PCR, and when studying the effect of pesticide combinations, we also used its real-time version followed by a melting procedure. Our results showed that Mospilan 20SP alone at 5, 25, 50, and 100 µg.ml-1 and 5, 10, 25, and 50 µg.ml-1 for the last 4 and 24 hours of culture with in vitro proliferating bovine lymphocytes, respectively, did not induce methylation of the bovine GSTP1 gene. The same results were revealed when studying the effect of the combination of the pesticides added to the lymphocyte cultures for the last 24 hours of cultivation in the following amounts: 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, and 25 µg.ml-1 of Mospilan 20SP and 1.5, 3, 6, 15, and 30 µg.ml-1 of Orius 25EW. We have also revealed that the less laborious real-time MSP followed by a melting procedure may replace MSP for studying the methylation status of the GSTP1 gene.

Molecular characterization of porcine rotavirus A from India revealing zooanthroponotic transmission

Rotaviruses A (RVA) are leading causes of diarrhea and dehydration in piglets and imply great economic loss to the pig farming community. In this study, the porcine RVA genotypes circulating in western and northern parts of India were determined by screening 214 fecal samples from diarrheic (n = 144) and non-diarrheic (n = 70) pigs. Subsequently, the structural (VP4 and VP7) and nonstructural (NSP3, and NSP4) genes were amplified, sequenced, and genetically characterized. The RVA positivity percentage was 7.94% (17/214) by RNA-PAGE and 10.28% (22/214) by RT-PCR. Higher RVA positivity was observed in samples from Uttar Pradesh (24.07%) followed by Maharashtra (6.77%) and Goa (2.38%). The sequence and automated genotyping software analysis confirmed the circulation of G4P[6] and G9P[13] RVA strains in porcine population. To note, the sequence similarity of the VP7 gene of Porcine/INDIA/RVA/PK-13 IVRI/Maharashtra/G4 and Porcine/INDIA/RVA/P-8/IVRI/U.P./G9 strain showed a relationship of 96.83 and 98.89% at the nucleotide level with human RVA strains indicating inter-species transmission. Additionally, the NSP3 (T1) and NSP4 (E1) genes (genotypes) also showed genetic relatedness with human RVA strains. Overall, the nucleotide sequences of VP7, NSP3, and NSP4 genes of porcine RVA indicate zooanthroponotic transmission. Further, we report the detection of G9P[13] RVA strain in porcine for the first time from India.HIGHLIGHTSRVA positivity was 7.94% (17/214) by RNA-PAGE and 10.28% (22/214) by RT-PCRThe RVA strain G9P[13] reported for the first time in Indian pigletsVP7, NSP3 and NSP4 genes analysis of porcine RVA showed genetic relatedness with human strains indicating evidence of zooanthroponotic transmission.