Dataset Information

Seasonal Diversity and Occurrence of Filamentous Fungi in Smallholder Dairy Cattle Feeds and Feedstuffs in South Africa.

ABSTRACT: This study investigated 65 (35 in summer and 30 in winter) smallholder dairy cattle feeds from Free State and Limpopo provinces in South Africa from 2018 to 2019 for fungal contamination and assessed the impacts of seasonal variation on fungal contamination levels, isolation frequency, and diversity. Samples were examined for fungal contamination using macro- and microscopic approaches, and their identities were confirmed by molecular means. A total of 217 fungal isolates from 14 genera, including Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium, were recovered from feeds from both seasons. The most prevalent fungal species recovered were A. fumigatus and P. crustosum. Mycological analyses showed that 97% of samples were contaminated with one or more fungal isolates, with the summer fungal mean level (6.1 × 10³ to 3.0 × 10⁶ CFU/g) higher than that of feeds sampled during winter (mean level: 1.1 × 10³ to 4.1 × 10⁵ CFU/g). Independent sample t-test revealed that the isolation frequencies of the genera Aspergillus and Fusarium were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher in summer than winter, while Penicillium prevalence in both seasons was not statistically (p > 0.05) different. Furthermore, the Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H') revealed a higher fungal diversity in summer (H' = 2.8) than in winter (H' = 2.1). This study on fungal contamination could be used for future fungal control and mycotoxin risk management in South Africa.

SUBMITTER: Adelusi OA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9696519 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Seasonal Diversity and Occurrence of Filamentous Fungi in Smallholder Dairy Cattle Feeds and Feedstuffs in South Africa.

Adelusi Oluwasola Abayomi OA Gbashi Sefater S Adebiyi Janet Adeyinka JA Makhuvele Rhulani R Aasa Adeola Oluwakemi AO Oladeji Oluwaseun Mary OM Khoza Minenhle M Okoth Sheila S Njobeh Patrick Berka PB

Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) 20221111 11

This study investigated 65 (35 in summer and 30 in winter) smallholder dairy cattle feeds from Free State and Limpopo provinces in South Africa from 2018 to 2019 for fungal contamination and assessed the impacts of seasonal variation on fungal contamination levels, isolation frequency, and diversity. Samples were examined for fungal contamination using macro- and microscopic approaches, and their identities were confirmed by molecular means. A total of 217 fungal isolates from 14 genera, includi ...[more]

PMID: 36422014

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Project description:Mycotoxin contamination of feed does not only cut across food and feed value chains but compromises animal productivity and health, affecting farmers, traders and consumers alike. To aid in the development of a sustainable strategy for mycotoxin control in animal-based food production systems, this study focused on smallholder farming systems where 77 dairy cattle feed samples were collected from 28 smallholder dairy establishments in the Limpopo and Free State provinces of South Africa between 2018 and 2019. Samples were analyzed using a confirmatory UHPLC-MS/MS (Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) method validated for simultaneous detection of 23 mycotoxins in feeds. Overall, mycotoxins assessed were detected across samples with 86% of samples containing at least one mycotoxin above respective decision limits; up to 66% of samples were found to be contaminated with at least three mycotoxins. Findings demonstrated that deoxynivalenol, sterigmatocystin, alternariol and enniatin B were the most common mycotoxins, while low to marginal detection rates were observed for all other mycotoxins with none of the samples containing fusarenon-X, HT-2-toxin and neosolaniol. Isolated cases of deoxynivalenol (maximum: 2385 µg/kg), aflatoxins (AFB1 (maximum: 30.2 µg/kg)/AFG1 (maximum: 23.1 µg/kg)), and zearalenone (maximum: 1793 µg/kg) in excess of local and European regulatory limits were found. Kruskal-Wallis testing for pairwise comparisons showed commercial feed had significantly higher contamination for deoxynivalenol and its acylated derivatives, ochratoxin A and fumonisins (FB1 and FB2), whereas forages had significantly higher alternariol; in addition to significantly higher fumonisin B1 contamination for Limpopo coupled with significantly higher enniatin B and sterigmatocystin for Free State. Statistically significant Spearman correlations (p < 0.01) were also apparent for ratios for deoxynivalenol/fumonisin B1 (rs = 0.587) and zearalenone/alternariol methylether (rs = 0.544).

Project description:The main purpose of this study was to understand the type of dairy cattle that can be optimally used by smallholder farmers in various production environments such that they will maximize their yields without increasing the level of inputs. Anecdotal evidence and previous research suggests that the optimal level of taurine inheritance in crossbred animals lies between 50 and 75% when considering total productivity in tropical management clusters. We set out to assess the relationship between breed composition and productivity for various smallholder production systems in Tanzania. We surveyed 654 smallholder dairy households over a 1-year period and grouped them into production clusters. Based on supplementary feeding, milk productivity and sale as well as household wealth status four clusters were described: low-feed-low-output subsistence, medium-feed-low-output subsistence, maize germ intensive semi-commercial and feed intensive commercial management clusters. About 839 crossbred cows were genotyped at approximately 150,000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci and their breed composition determined. Percentage dairyness (proportion of genes from international dairy breeds) was estimated through admixture analysis with Holstein, Friesian, Norwegian Red, Jersey, Guernsey, N'Dama, Gir, and Zebu as references. Four breed types were defined as RED-GUE (Norwegian Red/Friesian-Guernsey; Norwegian Red/Friesian-Jersey), RED-HOL (Norwegian Red/Friesian-Holstein), RED-Zebu (Norwegian Red/Friesian-Zebu), Zebu-RED (Zebu-Norwegian Red/Friesian) based on the combination of breeds that make up the top 76% breed composition. A fixed regression model using a genomic kinship matrix was used to analyze milk yield records. The fitted model accounted for year-month-test-date, parity, age, breed type and the production clusters as fixed effects in the model in addition to random effects of animal and permanent environment effect. Results suggested that RED-Zebu breed type with dairyness between 75 and 85% is the most appropriate for a majority of smallholder management clusters. Additionally, for farmers in the feed intensive management group, animals with a Holstein genetic background with at least 75% dairy composition were the best performing. These results indicate that matching breed type to production management group is central to maximizing productivity in smallholder systems. The findings from this study can serve as a basis to inform the development of the dairy sector in Tanzania and beyond.

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Dataset Information

Seasonal Diversity and Occurrence of Filamentous Fungi in Smallholder Dairy Cattle Feeds and Feedstuffs in South Africa.

Publications

Seasonal Diversity and Occurrence of Filamentous Fungi in Smallholder Dairy Cattle Feeds and Feedstuffs in South Africa.

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