Bubalus Research Articles

Surface topography and tegumental morphology of adult digenetic trematode of Indian strain of Fasciola gigantica Cobbold

Fasciolosis disease is caused by the most common species Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica . Surface topography and some of the important features of morphology of the Indian F. gigantica has not yet been described and therefore, the present study was elucidated about the important structural surface topography features of the F. gigantica . Adult flukes of F. gigantica are flattened and leaf-like in shape and measures approximately 5-6 cm in length, with narrowed anterior and posterior ends and are the presence of uneven surface with alternating surface folds armed with spines. At the anterior end the oral sucker occurs at its tip while the ventral sucker is present at the oral cone-main body junction, they are used to grip the lining of the bile duct of the liver of Bubalus bubalis and to assist in the movements of the fluke and the spines are absent around the suckers. The common genital opening for the male and female reproductive systems genital pore which is present just anterior to the ventral sucker. The posterior tip of the body has a prominent excretory pore first time reported with very few spines are present at the posterior end of the body and hence appear smooth.

Two β Defensin Cationic Peptides from Mastitic Milk of Bubalus bubalis

Two β Defensin Cationic Peptides from Mastitic Milk of Bubalus bubalis

Physiological mechanism of low purine derivative excretion in urine of buffaloes compared with Bos taurus cattle

Three cattle calves (Bos taurus) and three buffalo calves (Bos bubalus) were weaned after receiving colostrum and then reared on bottle-fed milk. During the first month the animals did not have access to solid food. Urinary purine derivative concentration (PD), basal PD excretion and glomerular filtrate rate (GFR) were determined during fasting and feeding. After 1 month the animals were given access to solid feed (urea-treated rice straw 80% and molasses 20%) to stimulate rumen development. At 3 months of age, while the solid food was given, urinary PD, basal PD excretion and GFR were again determined. Urinary PD excretion both during fasting and milk feeding did not differ significantly between buffaloes and cattle during the milk-feeding period (P > 0.05), but there were highly significant (P < 0.01) differences between cattle and buffaloes after 3 months of age and 2 months of access to solid feed (P < 0.01). The GFR was lower in buffaloes than cattle in both the milk-fed and solid-feed periods (P < 0.05). It is suggested that the differences between buffaloes and cattle are due to differences in GFR as PD will stay longer in the blood and thus provide a greater possibility for recycling to the rumen. This, however, needs further confirmation. Whether permeability of PD from blood to rumen is an additional factor is not known.

Sex determination in 6 bovid species by duplex PCR

Sex determination in domestic animals is of potential value to livestock breeding programs. The aim of this study was to develop a simple and accurate PCR-based sex determination protocol, which can be applicable to 6 major domesticated species of the family Bovidae, viz. Bos frontalis, B. grunniens, B. indicus, Bubalus bubalis, Capra hircus, and Ovis aries. In silico analysis was done to identify conserved DNA sequence in the HMG box region of the sex-determining region of the Y-chromosome (SRY gene) across the bovids. Duplex PCR assay, including the SRY gene and the GAPDH housekeeping gene, was optimized by using genomic DNA extracted from blood samples of known sex. It was possible to identify the sex of animals by amplifying both gender-specific (SRY) and autosomal (GAPDH) genes simultaneously in the duplex reaction, with the male yielding two bands and the female one band. The protocol was subjected to a blind test that showed a 100 percent specificity and accuracy, thus it can be used in sex determination in livestock breeding programs.

The horn-core of Hemibos Galerianus from Ponte Milvio, Rome (Italy)

Anatomical reinterpretation of a horn-core from the Ponte Milvio site, previously ascribed to Bubalus murrensis , suggests that it belongs to the species Hemibos galerianus , originally described from the type locality of the Galerian Land Mammal Age (LMA). This is the second record in the Italian Pleistocene of this rare Bovini species, derived from the genus Hemibos of Indian origin.

DETERMINATION OF FATTY ACIDS WITHIN BUBALINE MILK BY USE OF THE GAS-CROMATOGRAPHIC METHOD

Investigations were conducted on a lot of bubalines raised within a household system. The ratio between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids encountered in the bubaline milk is rather constan t. It can thus be asserted that apprehending the fatty acid c oncentration in bubaline milk and dairy products ma y confirm the authenticity and freshness of the dairy product s in question. The analysis on fatty acids consiste d in their extraction and processing through transesterificati on and gas-chromatographic (GS-MS) analysis. Therefore, the following stages were undergone: the extraction of total lipids, the obtainment of methylic esters in fatty acids, the separation and identification of methylic ester s in fatty acids through gaseous- phase chromatogra phy (GS). By means of the gas-chromatograph, we were able to identify the fatty acids with their corresponding s tandards, namely: capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, pa lmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, heptadecanoic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid.

The extraction of free and esterized cholesterol in bubaline milk and the chromatographic separation on a thin layer.

Plasmatic lipoproteins include the free and esterized cholesterol in variable proportions, which is the transporting modality of cholesterol as it circulates between different organism components (1). 18 acetyl molecules CoA are employed for the production of a cholesterol molecule. 9 carbon atoms are lost during the biosynthesis (2). The extraction of free and esterized milk cholesterol was conducted according to the Folch et al. method (1957), implying minor modification as to solvent volumes of analyzed samples.

Effect of Hyalomma Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on Milk Production of Dairy Buffaloes (Bos Bubalus Bubalis) of Punjab (Pakistan)

The objective of this study was to estimate economic losses in terms of milk production caused by tick infestation in dairy buffaloes (Bos bubalus bubalis) of Punjab (Pakistan). To this end, six hundred Nili-Ravi buffaloes infested with Hyalomma ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) were selected and divided into two equal groups viz; A & B. The animals of group A were treated with various doses of 5% cypermethrine pour-on (Cipermetriven, Ivan Labs, Spain) while those of group B were treated with propylene glycol (Propandiol - (1, 2), Merck) as a sham treatment. Average milk production (L) and butter fat (%) was recorded before and after treatment in order to calculate post-treatment increase in these parameters (if any). An average daily increase of 1.15L in milk yield per animal with 1.31% more fat was observed in acaricide-treated animals. A dose-dependent effect of acaricide was found on the number of ticks as well as milk production and fat. The results provided a baseline data for further research on economic impact of tick nuisance to the smallholder dairy farming systems of Pakistan.

The taxonomic status, distribution and conservation of the lowland anoa Bubalus depressicornis and mountain anoa Bubalus quarlesi

ABSTRACT 1. The anoas are two species of dwarf buffalo, the lowland anoa Bubalus depressicornis and mountain anoa Bubalus quarlesi that are endemic to the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The classification of the subgenus Anoa within Bubalus is upheld by assessment of recent genetic and morphological research. The classification of anoas into two species is still debated, but with the absence of significant opposing evidence, this position is adopted here. 2. Information about the distribution of the two species is presented that adds to but largely supports existing reports. However, it is still uncertain whether the two putative species are sympatric or parapatric in their distribution. A review of anoa distribution from historical reports and recent field data (1990s to 2002) highlights their decline throughout Sulawesi, especially in the southern and north‐eastern peninsulas. The decline has been attributed to local hunting for meat and habitat loss. Most populations are rapidly becoming fragmented, suggesting that the conservation of viable populations may eventually require management of metapopulations. 3. There is an urgent requirement for conservation efforts to: (i) protect anoas from hunting; (ii) prevent habitat loss in key sites; (iii) complete genetic studies to better determine the number of anoa taxa and Management Units and assess their distribution; and (iv) determine the status of the remaining anoa populations.

The Potential for Sustainable Harvests by Traditional Wana Hunters in Morowali Nature Reserve, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Conflicts arise between subsistence hunters and those who wish to conserve the animals they hunt. Solutions require measures of sustainability. Data are presented on the sustainability for the Wana hunters living in the highlands of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Pigs (Sus celebensis) and dwarf buffalo (Bubalus spp.) account for 58 percent and 40 percent of the large game harvest by weight. Primates (Macaca tonkeana) are occasionally killed. Data suggest pig hunting is sustainable, primates may have been overhunted in the past, and that dwarf buffalo are vulnerable. Using GPS, the area encompassing all of fields, traps, and house locations for the sample of 153 Wana was measured to be only 18.1 km2. To sustain their current harvest of pigs, however, the Wana need access to at least 290km2 of catchment. Their harvest of 0.30 pigs per person per year can be sustained if the Wana population density is no greater than 0.53 persons per km2. Pigs are the most sustainable of the Wana's prey options. Removing prima...

Molecular phylogeny of the tribe Bovini (Mammalia: Artiodactyla): alternative placement of the Anoa

AbstractNoncoding regions from the genes encoding aromatase cytochrome P450 and lactoferrin have been sequenced in ten bovine and one cervid species for an investigation of the evolutionary relationships within the tribe Bovini. The evolutionary rate of DNA‐nucleotide alterations along the ancestral bovine lineage amounts to 0.38% per million years, as estimated from this combined 0.478‐kb‐single copy nuclear (scn) DNA sequence data set. Whereas rate homogenity is apparent within the Bovini, the relative rate test suggests that the boselaphine lineage (as represented by Boselaphus) has evolved at only about one third of the rate found within the Bovini. Consistent with other results, the scnDNA data provide evidence for (i) a monophyletic origin of the Bovini, (ii) a sister group position of the Boselaphini, and (iii) two different clades within the Bovini, the buffaloes (Bubalus and Syncerus) and the cattle (Bos/Bibos and Bison). Surprisingly, the results indicate very clearly that the enigmatic dwarf buffalo of Sulawesi Island (Anoa depressicornis) is most closely related to Boselaphus and that the divergence from the true Bovini occurred close to the base of bovine cladogenesis in the Middle Miocene (≈ 14—12 million years ago).

EFFECT OF HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION ON BUFFALO MEAT CONDITIONING

The efficiency of high voltage electrical stimulation (700V, 1400V peak, pulses 1s on/1s off, 60Hz, 2A) on buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) carcass in muscle conditioning, during nine days storage period, was studied. Electrically stimulated (ES) muscles resulted in significantly more rapid pH fall as compared with controls (P<0.01) and the difference at first hour post mortem was 0.75 value. The IMP/ATP ratio clearly indicates that the applied process reduced significantly (P<0.01) time period necessary for the onset of rigor mortis in ES muscle. Myofibrillar fragmentation index differences between control and ES muscles increased throughout storage at 2oC being statistically significant (P<0.01), and it was confirmed by slurry myofibrillar photomycrographies from 6th day of post mortem conditioning. On this storage time the SDSelectrophoretic patterns of myofibrillars proteins also indicated light weakening of Troponin T (37,000D) band. The rate of the myofibrillar degradation, hence the acceptable tenderness in buffalo muscle, can be predicted by high voltage electrical stimulated process.

Modification of fenitrothion-induced circulating enzymatic alterations in Bubalus bubalis by 2,3-butanedione monoxime

Modern a g r i c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e s have i n c r e a s e d h e a l t h h a z a r d to farm a n i m a l s o f e x p o s u r e to o r g a n o p h o s p h a t e (OP) i n s e c t i c i d e s . A p a r t f rom o t h e r s o u r c e s , r u m i n a n t s i n c l u d i n g b u f f a l o e s may be exposed to OP i n s e c t i c i d a l a g e n t s t h r o u g h c o n s u m p t i o n o f c o n t a m i n a t e d f o r a g e s { S i n g h 1981; Ha tch 1988 ) . These chemica ls are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r many cases o f p o i s o n i n g in farm a n i m a l s due to t h e i r a n t i c h o l i n e s t e r a s e a c t i v i t y ( S i n g h 1981; Smi th and Lew is 1988; P r i t c h a r d 1989 ) . The OP i n s e c t i c i d e f e n i t r o t h i o n i s b e i n g e x t e n s i v e l y used to c o n t r o l i n s e c t p e s t s on d i f f e r e n t c r o p s i n c l u d i n g f o r a g e s (Jha 1987 ) . T h i s i n s e c t i c i d e i s more t o x i c to b u f f a l o e s than to r o d e n t s (Vad lamud i 197q; Cupta e t a l . 1 9 8 1 ) .

Intertribal Hunting among the Rukuba

A vast literature has been published on hunter-gatherer peoples; whereas comparatively few accounts have been devoted to the study of hunting practices among agriculturalists. This is quite understandable since hunting is generally, among agriculturalists, a pursuit which is not essential to the survival of the society and which, in many cases, is considered a sport rather than a necessary contribution to the diet. In such a setting hunting may be ideologically important and, in spite ofthe relatively little chance of bagging a significant amount of meat, a culturally highly valorized endeavor. Described here is the part played by hunting in Rukuba society and the way in which communal hunting, in the form of battues, culminates in recurrent annual hunts on given tracks of bush said to belong to one or the other tribe taking part in the hunts. I endeavor to find the reason or reasons for such invitations to tribes sometimes classified as enemies and which were on a head-taking basis when affrays arose. Another question to be addressed is why people so greedy for meat invite others to their hunting ground instead of trying to keep the game for themselves. The Rukuba number about 12,000 and their territorial center is about 25 miles northwest of Jos, the capital of Plateau State, Nigeria. They live in 24 villages, most of them surrounded by bush where the hunting takes place. Each village is headed by a chief and villages are geographically grouped into five sections (see Map 1); three of these sections are under a village chief who is head ofthe section and whose duties are to arbitrate in intrasection disputes and to open the rituals pertaining to his section. The two remaining sections have two head villages, one dealing with the most important rituals and the other arbitrating disputes arising between the villages belonging to the section. I call the former the head ritual village and the latter the head political village. Hunting enters into this scheme of subordination/superordination in a very significant way: the heads of several species of animals?and formerly human heads taken from enemies?must be brought to the head village of the section in the three sections having only one head village and to the political head of the sections having two head villages. The animals are the leopard, the dwarf buffalo, the bush pig, the hyena, and two species of antelopes that I could not positively identify, although from the heads and horns shown me they appear to be the roan antelope and the hippotrague. Anytime one of these is killed the village of the successful hunter stages a dance called kaship at home and, if the village is a subordinate village, the hunting party brings the head to the superordinate village of the section, regardless of where the animal has been killed (Muller 1980:293-298). Other animals of lesser size, the anteater (orycteropus afer), and several species of antelope including the hartebeest, only require a dance called aso, and their heads are retained by the chief of the hunter's village to be plastered on the walls of the village sacred hut (Muller 1977). But heads of big animals are not the only trophies to be similarly

The effect of evolution on homologous proteins: A comparison between the chromophore microenvironments of italian water buffalo ( Bos bubalus, L.) and sperm whale apomyoglobin

The perturbing effect of guanidium hydrochloride and pH on the molecular structure of water buffalo apomyoglobin has been investigated by circular dichroism in the far and near ultraviolet and by fluorescence. In the wavelength region between 320 and 260 nm the circular dichroic spectrum of the globin is highly structured and the contributions of the aromatic chromophores have been resolved. Buffalo apomyoglobin undergoes a structural transition at neutral pH which involves elements of the secondary and tertiary structure, as indicated by changes of dichroic activity of the peptide and aromatic chromophores and the fluorescence of the two tryptophanyl residues. The possibility of charge-transfer complex between indole and imidazole is discussed. A major structural transition with abrupt unfolding takes place in the pH region between 5.6 and 4.3. Below pH 4.3 the peptide helical residues, which survive the acid transition, appear to be resistent to further acidification to pH 2.0 while tryptophanyl emission is quenched and shifted to longer wavelengths. A structural transition occurs also in alkali above pH 10, which has been detected by the same techniques. The relationships between buffalo and sperm whale apomyoglobin are discussed.

Some biochemical and metabolic aspects of the semen of bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos taurus)

Some biochemical and metabolic aspects of the semen of bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos taurus)

Immunoglobulin G in the sera of new born buffalo (Bos bubalus bubalis) calves

Immunoglobulin G in the sera of new born buffalo (Bos bubalus bubalis) calves

Amino acid composition of skeletal muscle of domestic buffalo (Bos bubalus L.)—II. Fractionation in three protein fractions and studies of their amino acid pattern

1.1. The skeletal muscle of Bos bubalus L. has been fractionated into three different protein fractions: sarcoplasmic, myofibrillar and insoluble.2.2. The amino acid composition of these fractions has been determined. The content of essential amino acids in the various fractions has been found to be very high in decreasing order from the sarcoplasmic to the myofibrillar and insoluble fraction.3.3. The “chemical score” followed by the indication of the limiting amino acid has been calculated to be 74 (Ileu), 71 (Val) and 65 (Phe), respectively, for the sarcoplasmic, myofibrillar and insoluble fraction.4.4. The high nutritional value of meat fractions from the domestic buffalo from the Mediterranean area is supported by experimental data.

Amino acid composition of skeletal muscle of domestic buffalo (Bos bubalus L.)—I. Comparative studies and nutritional value of proteins

1.1. In a search for new sources of protein, meat from the domestic buffalo—widely bred in southern Italy—has been investigated in order to ascertain the nutritional value of the skeletal muscle proteins. Comparative investigations have been performed on the basis of amino acid composition and essential amino acid content.2.2. It has been shown that the total amino acid content is an inverse function of wilderness conditions, when proteins from domestic buffalo skeletal muscle are compared with those from the domestic ox and African buffalo. The amino acid pattern is, however, very similar in the three species when the relative percentages are compared. Also, the total content of essential amino acids is very similar in the three species.3.3. The lysine content is much higher in the domestic buffalo as compared wlth whoie egg proteins (+ 44%), and also with the domestic ox. The results sugget that domestic buffalo skeletal muscle proteins have an amino acid composition which indicates a high nutritional value for the meat of this animal: its use as a food source is indicated on these data.

The skeletal muscle myoglobin of the water buffalo ( Bos bubalus L.)

1. 1. The skeletal muscle myoglobin of the water buffalo ( Bos bubalus L.) has been purified by a rapid and simplified procedure. 2. 2. The amino acid composition of the myoglobin has been determined. 3. 3. The N-terminal amino acid is glycine. 4. 4. The results have been compared with other mammalian myoglobins, particularly that of the cow.