Molecular Characterization of Sudanese and Southern Sudanese Chicken Breeds Using mtDNA D-Loop

The objective of this study was to assess the genetic relationships and diversity and to estimate the amount of gene flow among the five chicken populations from Sudan and South Sudan and commercial strain of egg line White Leghorn chickens. The chicken populations were genotyped using mtDNA D-loop as a molecular marker. PCR product of the mtDNA D-loop segment was 600 bp and 14 haplotypes were identified. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree indicated that the indigenous Sudanese chickens can be grouped into two clades, IV and IIIa only. Median joining networks analysis showed that haplotype LBB49 has the highest frequency. The hierarchal analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation within the population was 88.6% and the differentiation among the population was 11.4%. When the populations was redefined into two geographical zones, rich and poor Savanna, the results were fractioned into three genetic variations: between individuals within population 95.5%, between populations within the group 0.75%, and genetic variation between groups 3.75%. The pair wise Fst showed high genetic difference between Betwil populations and the rest with Fst ranging from 0.1492 to 0.2447. We found that there is large number of gene exchanges within the Sudanese indigenous chicken (Nm=4.622)

The Association of High Prevalence of Trophozoites in Peripheral Blood with Lower Antibody Response to P. falciparum Infected Erythrocytes among Asymptomatic Children in Sudan

Background. The most prominent variant surface antigens (VSAs) of Plasmodium falciparum are the var gene-encoded Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family, which serves as a parasite-sequestering ligand to endothelial cells. In this study we have examined the antibody reactivity of autologous plasma from symptomatic and asymptomatic malaria infected children against the infected erythrocytes’ surface antigens using flow cytometry. Methods. Ethidium-bromide-labelled erythrocytic mature forms of P. falciparum parasites obtained from symptomatic and asymptomatic children were sequentially incubated with autologous plasma and fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated (FITC) antihuman IgG. Plasma antibody reactivity was detected by flow cytometry. Results. Asymptomatic children had more prevalence of trophozoites in peripheral blood (66%) compared to symptomatic children (16%), p=0.002. The mean percentage of infected RBCs reacting with autologous sera was 89.78 among symptomatic children compared to 79.62 among asymptomatic children (p=0.09). Moreover, the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) in the asymptomatic was significantly higher compared to symptomatic children (p value = 0.040). Conclusion. Variant surface antigens on Plasmodium falciparum infected RBCs from symptomatic malaria children tend to be better recognized by IgG antibodies. This may suggest a role of some IgG antibodies in severity of malaria