Date
5-2023
Abstract
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN), primarily Haemonchus contortus, are one of the leading causes of death in sheep and goats. As resistance to commercial dewormers continues to rise, alternative strategies for GIN parasite control are needed. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that secondary plant compounds in birdsfoot trefoil (BFT, Lotus corniculatus) possess antiparasitic activity against GIN. In this study, the antiparasitic effect of twelve strains of BFT on the hatching of H. contortus eggs and motility of larvae was determined. BFT strains were harvested in June of 2020 and hay-dried. H. contortus eggs were recovered from mono-infected Dorset yearlings by running fresh feces through a series of sieves (1000, 355, 150, 38, and 25µm), followed by flotation with Fecasol®. Aqueous extractions of the BFT (BFT-AqE) were performed by incubating 360mg of each forage strain with deionized water in the rotating Daisy incubator (ANKOM Technology Corp., Fairport, NY. USA) for 24 hours. Serial dilutions of BFT-AqE yielded final concentrations of 3, 1.5, 0.75, 0.375 mg powder mL-1. Egg hatch assays were performed in vitro utilizing 24 well-plates containing H. contortus eggs and BFT-AqE serial concentrations. After 48 hours of incubation at 27℃, eggs and motile and nonmotile larvae were manually counted using an inverted microscope. Each strain’s efficacy against egg hatching and larval motility of H. contortus was determined. At 3 mg mL-1, 10 of 12 BFT strains (83%) were > 99.7% efficacious in inhibiting egg hatching of H. contortus. Further studies are needed to determine the structural basis for the varying anti-parasitic efficacy observed with the 12 strains of BFT.
Caldwell, Isabella Poster
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agriculture Commons, Animal Sciences Commons, Biology Commons