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• Improving Livestock Productivity and Resilience in Africa: Application of Genetic Technologies and
Challenges• Julie Ojango, Yumi Mingyan, Raphael Mrode, Okeyo Mwai
Animal Genetic Research for Africa (Biosciences for Farming in Africa), Nairobi, 10-11 September 2015
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Issues in Livestock productionin Developing Countries
Must utilize the potential of the AnGR and increase the
productivity per animal!
Meet increasing demands forfood of animal origin on an increasingly competitive market
Improve the livelihoods ofcommunities keeping livestock
Without environmental degradation: land and water
Cope with diseases & stress
Considering the needs for future genetic diversity
Need forresilient animals
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3
The huge genetic diversity is an opportunity
The challenge: How can we identify and
utilize the best animals for & in different
environments?
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Needs and Technologies:
Use Mathematical modeling to predict future scenarios & gene swoopsData to understand animals & environment Genomic & ICT tools to identify, improve and deliver the desired animalsMatch genotype with current environmentsMultiply and deliver desired animals using reproductive technology
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Light coloured bars = Minimum production Dark coloured bars = Maximum productionxi = Differences in production due to “animal husbandry practices” yi = Differences in production due to “genotype”
Fitting livestock genotypes to different environments- the dairy example
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Milk
yield
per L
actat
ion
(Kg)
Indigenous Crossbred Exotic
Mixed rain fed temperate/ highlan
d
Mixed rain fed humid/ sub-humid
Indigenous Crossbreds Synthetics Exotics
Large-scale commercial ranches
xE1
xE2
xE3
xE1
xE2
xE3 xE3
yE2
yE1
xE3
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Production systems are mainly small scale or pastoral, transaction costs are high
Climate change! Limited resources, poverty,
available feeds Endemic diseases Local Markets, skewed prices Poor Infrastructure Lack of feedback systems to
inform management decisions Weak institutions
Why is change a challenge ?
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This Animal
This EnvironmentUnfortunately, We want to move
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Animal
EnvironmentTo this
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To change an animal…
application of “technologies” is needed
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1960 5000 kg milk/cow
2005 10 000kg milk/cow
2050?? kg milk/cow
Developed countries: What changed?
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0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Year
Kg ECM
Swedish Red (SRB)Swedish Holstein (SLB)
2% total increase per year1-1.5% genetic change per year
Annual milk yield for SRB & SLB cows 1955-2005
Change Takes Time and Effort (good data & right analyses)
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Data: Technologies to accelerate information generation and sharing, but policies & access?
Smart data capture & feedback systems: ICT basedBreeding platforms to systematically improve and deliver productivity gains
12
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Milk production by % dairyness•High grade cattle only showed substantially better milk yields than other grades in the highest production environment
Use of Genomics and results from small-holder systems (DGEA)
PC1 vs PC2 from principal component analysis based on 566,000 snp
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
2
4
6
8
10
12
Months in Milk
Kg o
f milk
per
day
X1
X2
X3
Y1
Y2
Y3
The lactation curves of dairy cows under different production systems in Kenya
…Use of Genomics and results from small-holder systems (DGEA)
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Challenges and other potential application of genomics
• Are there desirable and undesirable GMOs?• Graft an Orange on lemon is ok but, gene from
goat that improves nutritional value of cow milk is branded as undesirable (the often uninformed GMO debate?)
• Nutrient density: is 1 glass of Holsten milk < or > 1 glass of crossbred cow milk? To whom and for who is important!
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Opportunities & potential application of genomics
• Use of gene therapy to treat diseases (is this bad or desirable?)
• Understanding the underlying genetic control of traits that lead to threats to our wild life and use genomics to fix this (e.g. rhino horn)
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• Use of Reproductive Technologies to Improve Productivity & Resilience
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IVF 2-cellMorulaDay 3.5
BlastocystDay 7.5
In-vitro production of bovine embryos of desired genetics
+Oocytes by Ovum pick up (OPU) Frozen semen
Embryo Transfer (ET)
CryopreservationCan also be used to conserve the endangered African wildlife
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a) Solid Surface Vitrification (SSV)
Pre-load the straw for recovery
Insert the plug into the straw immediately
Dilu
tion
med
ium
Bovine embryo vitrification with direct ET after warming
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b) In-straw Dilution (ISD)
0.25 ml straw
(50 µl) (6 µl)
Bovine embryo vitrification with direct ET after warming
Same principles can be used to conserve the endangered African wildlife
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Method No. of Blastocysts
Re-expansion Rate (24 hr)
Hatch Rate (48 hr)
Control (fresh embryos)25 (G1) N/A 19 (76%)
47 (G2) N/A 34 (72%)
Solid Surface Vitrification (SSV)
28 (G1) 23 (82%) 16 (57%)
40 (G2) 30 (75%) 16 (40%)
In-Straw Dilution (ISD)21 (G1) 13 (62%) 7 (33%)
54 (G2) 39 (72%) 16 (30%)
Results: Bovine embryo vitrification with direct ET after warming
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Simplified In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) System
Equilibration of culture medium
Injection of oocytes & sperm
Embryo Culture
Advantages• Simple & field-applicable: no need of
special equipment and the system can be transported by car to the field within 7 days.
• Affordable: the cost is 10 times less
• Sub-centers for IVF can be easily established with simple settings for villages.
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Sperm Analysis by Fluorescence staining and Flow Cytometery
Viability test – PE & SYBR double staining
Acrosome integrity test – PSA-FITC, Hoechst & PE triple staining
Dead sperm (red)
Live sperm (green)
Dead sperm with intact Acrosome
Dead sperm with broken Acrosome
Live sperm with intact Acrosome
Live sperm with broken Acrosome
Broken Acrosome (green)
Intact Acrosome (no staining)
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Consumption of even small amounts of animal-source foods:
-combats under nutrition
-improves cognitive development
- increases physical growth and activity
Note:
To feed the hungry mouths the moral question is different!
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• Do we have enabling policies and appropriate policy frameworks in place to allow biotechnology and information technologies to effectively solve Africa’s food scarcity & safety problems?
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