Cow's wound

1. Vegetable oil has been used to kill lice by covering it to block its oxygen blockage. Lipomyces starkeyi is able to produce microbial oil that has similar fatty acid composition to the vegetable oil.

2. The future production of vegetable oil is believed to be competitive due to the future rarefaction of fossil oil and the microbial oil produced by Lipomyces starkeyi has a great potential to become alternatives solution for lice problem.

3. Microbial oil produced by Lipomyces starkeyi is considered more organic than the commercial product used by the farmers to solve lice problem.

4. Vegetable takes months to grow before harvesting and the growth of vegetable is harder to control due to many environmental factors such as climate. On the other hand, Lipomyces starkeyi is cultured in a controlled laboratory. The production of microbial oil by Lipomyces starkeyi is more stable than the production of vegetable oil.

Methods
1. Lipid accumulation
2. Extraction of lipid
3. liquid quantification
4. Application of the lipid

Expected Outcome
(from Nisha)
Based on the research, this method can improve the skin health of a cow as well as the body condition. This is because the method can mainly kill sucking lice as well as its egg that grows on the cow’s body. By that, the wound caused from the biting of the lice can be prevented. As a result, the cow will grow healthier and leaving cattle less susceptible to disease.

 

References:

1)    http://www.chemplex.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=140

Hard tick

 

 
Soft tick

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Ascomycota

Subphylum : Saccharomycotina

Class : Saccharomycetes

Family: Dipodascaceae

Genus: Lipomyces

Species: Starkeyi

There are two main types – sucking and biting lice. It’s important to know which we have to control them effectively.

Biting adult lice feed on outer layers of skin and the hair shaft, causing hair loss and skin reactions. These are exacerbated as the animals rub themselves, leading to self-trauma. If there is a heavy burden and a skin irritation is driving your cattle mad, milk yield or liveweight gain is likely to be affected. Rubbing themselves on gates and other building structures can cause costly damage, while irritated animals are more likely to cause stress within the herd.

Sucking lice can cause irritation, but also penetrate the skin and feed on blood. In severe cases the anaemia can cause weakness and even death.

Lice are probably the primary cause of light spot and fleck. This is a blemish visible on the hide of cattle which downgrades the value of leather, costing the leather industry about £20m a year.

Both sucking and biting lice can exist within a herd at sub-clinical levels, and you may never even know your herd is infected. But put them under stress, particularly if there are other chronic health issues, such as pneumonia, and symptoms will start to show and animals will lose condition.

                The biggest problem we encountered during the discussion period was about the selection of ideas and topics for our project. We often change the idea because we find the ideas we have chosen before, there are many disadvantages and do not have many supporting materials that can be used. However, we have succeeded in obtaining the most brilliant ideas suggested by one of my group members, about how to control the tick on the cows in an organic way.

                As for me, the biggest hurdle for me is time management. I am a procrastinator and always have been, so completing assignments on time was and still is a challenge for me. I have not come to a solution yet, but I did make changes in my life as to how I can manage my time properly in order to complete the task and do some research. I found that it was easier for me to focus if I was outside my dorm room, because when in my room, I would usually mess around on the internet or take naps. I don’t think realistically I will get over procrastination anytime soon, but I can manage it.

                With hurdles came my hidden strengths I discovered about myself. I have never thought of myself as a leader, but because we used group thinking in more than one occasion, I found that I am actually can become a leader. I communicate my ideas to the group while trying to balance the ideas of others so the group can come to an agree upon decision. This actually can benefit me no matter what career I pursued later. 

                Besides, I also get to learn how to use my knowledge to find out about microorganisms that will give benefit to the society. This can enhance my general knowledge because we not only learn about the theory but we tried to do practical on it. To me, this is quite interesting and full of excitement. Overall, the competition has successfully fostered the spirit of cooperation, enhancing knowledge of the various microorganisms as well as the ability to deliver information fluently.