Improving breeding performance of fingerlings of Clarias gariepinus through intraspecific hybridization

The scarcity of genetically improved fish seed is a major constraint to rapid development of aquaculture in Nigeria due to inbreeding. The study was conducted to monitor breeding indices from intra-specific mating combinations of wild stocks of Clarias gariepinus. Broodstock of C. gariepinus were collected from Lokoja (LK), Makurdi (MK), Agenebode (AG) and Onitsha (ON) and compared with domesticated strain. 16 mating combinations of parental and intraspecific mating combinations were conducted in triplicates. Results were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) (α= 0.05). The results showed collection from Onitsha had highest values of fertilization (95.2%), hatchability (87.6 %) and survival (66.0 %), followed by crosses from female from Onitsha : ♀ON X ♂LK, ♀ON X  ♂MK and ♀ON X  ♂AG having 95.8 %, 91.1 % and 88.8 % (fertilization), 68.7 %, 61.9 % and 60.7 % (hatchability) and 61 %, 57 % and 63 % (survival) respectively. Domesticated strain had least values (81.9 %, 59.4 % and 51 %) fertilization, hatchability and survival respectively. ANOVA (α< 0.05) showed variation in fertilization, hatchability and survival. The better performing strains could be explored for genetic development. However, protein and gene profiling of these natural populations may be necessary to identify the proteins and genes responsible for these variations in breeding performances.Key Words: Breeding, performance, Clarias gariepinus, hybridizatio

A second generation human haplotype map of over 3.1 million SNPs

We describe the Phase II HapMap, which characterizes over 3.1 million human single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 270 individuals from four geographically diverse populations and includes 25-35% of common SNP variation in the populations surveyed. The map is estimated to capture untyped common variation with an average maximum r(2) of between 0.9 and 0.96 depending on population. We demonstrate that the current generation of commercial genome-wide genotyping products captures common Phase II SNPs with an average maximum r(2) of up to 0.8 in African and up to 0.95 in non-African populations, and that potential gains in power in association studies can be obtained through imputation. These data also reveal novel aspects of the structure of linkage disequilibrium. We show that 10-30% of pairs of individuals within a population share at least one region of extended genetic identity arising from recent ancestry and that up to 1% of all common variants are untaggable, primarily because they lie within recombination hotspots. We show that recombination rates vary systematically around genes and between genes of different function. Finally, we demonstrate increased differentiation at non-synonymous, compared to synonymous, SNPs, resulting from systematic differences in the strength or efficacy of natural selection between populations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62863/1/nature06258.pd

Omics-based molecular techniques in oral pathology centred cancer: Prospect and challenges in Africa

: The completion of the human genome project and the accomplished milestones in the human proteome project; as well as the progress made so far in computational bioinformatics and “big data” processing have contributed immensely to individualized/personalized medicine in the developed world.At the dawn of precision medicine, various omics-based therapies and bioengineering can now be applied accurately for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and risk stratifcation of cancer in a manner that was hitherto not thought possible. The widespread introduction of genomics and other omics-based approaches into the postgraduate training curriculum of diverse medical and dental specialties, including pathology has improved the profciency of practitioners in the use of novel molecular signatures in patient management. In addition, intricate details about disease disparity among diferent human populations are beginning to emerge. This would facilitate the use of tailor-made novel theranostic methods based on emerging molecular evidences