Rae Marvin Smith- PhD (Genetics)
- Senior Lecturer at University of South Africa
Rae Marvin Smith
- PhD (Genetics)
- Senior Lecturer at University of South Africa
About
19
Publications
4,120
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Introduction
Thanks for stopping by. Aside from my Lecturing, I am a multidisciplinary researcher whose primary interest is in Animal genetics, directed to the conservation and curation of genetic diversity and resources. I also work to explore genetic associations with traits linked to immunology, disease and disease causing vectors. I do this both in a broad range Livestock and wildlife species.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
July 2022 - November 2023
December 2021 - May 2022
June 2019 - October 2021
Position
- PostDoc Position
Description
- My role involves the design of molecular genetics research projects pertaining to wildlife biodiversity and conservation. I am responsible for the supervision of postgraduate students, publishing research findings in ISI accredited journals.
Education
September 2016 - May 2019
January 2013 - March 2016
January 2011 - November 2011
Publications
Publications (19)
The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) is a Pan-African initiative aimed at improving food systems and biodiversity conservation through genomics while ensuring equitable data sharing and benefits. The Open Institute is the knowledge exchange platform of the AfricaBP which aims to bridge local knowledge gaps in biodiversity genomics and bioinform...
This poster presents the present progress on a genome assembly of the Kolbroek pig prepared through UNISA, in partnership with the Africa Biogenome project. Sequences were generated via Inqaba Biotech. The workflow applied was the Verterbrate Genome Project's curated workflow and this was run on the Galaxy Platform (Europe)
Ticks are a significant threat to livestock globally, with certain species displaying distinct host preferences at various developmental stages. Accurate species-level identification is essential for studying tick populations, implementing control strategies, and understanding disease dynamics. This study evaluated ticks infesting cattle across six...
Ticks are blood ectoparasites that feed on domestic, wild animals and humans. They spread a variety of infections such as protozoa, viruses, and bacteria. Moreover, cattle reared by smallholder farmers are susceptible to ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Therefore, accurate identification of ticks and detection of tick-borne pathogens is crucial. The...
The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) Open Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics aims to overcome barriers to capacity building through its distributed African regional workshops and prioritizes the exchange of grassroots knowledge and innovation in biodiversity genomics and bioinformatics. In 2023, we implemented 28 workshops on biodiversit...
Ticks are important ectoparasites of domestic animals, wild animals and humans. They spread a variety of infective agents such as protozoans, viruses, and bacteria. Cattle reared by smallholder farmers are susceptible to ticks and tick-borne pathogens due to the type of production system practiced by the farmers. Hence, this review was focused on t...
Bontebok ( Damaliscus pygargus pygargus ) and blesbok ( D. p. phillipsi ) are classified as separate sub‐species. The blesbok has a widespread distribution throughout South Africa and is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Bontebok on the other hand is endemic within t...
In 2022, around 54 % of African students were denied student visas to study in the United States (US), compared to 36 % of Asian students and 9 % of European students, despite African immigrants in the US often being more highly educated than the US native-born population. This issue cannot be attributed solely to the dichotomy between the Global N...
Helminth parasite infections are widespread in smallholder farming systems affecting farmers and livestock animals. There are pathogenic parasites that populate the gut of their host and coexist closely with the gut microbiota. The physical and immunological environment of the gut can be modified by parasites and microbiota creating a wide range of...
The Diederik Cuckoo Chrysococcyx caprius is an African species widely distributed south of the Sahara, which migrates seasonally between breeding and nonbreeding sites. It is currently unknown whether the species consists of a single panmictic population or if it is genetically structured. To investigate this, we analysed sequence variation in thre...
A poster that showcases some of the major findings from investigating the mitochondrial lineages as well as morphological differentiation of in the Diederick cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius)
The Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) has recovered from near extinction over more than eight decades. While their numbers have increased, populations remain isolated with low genetic diversity. With more than 75 new populations being founded and more than 4800 extant animals, conservation management strategies are being implemented to mitiga...
Recently reported substantial genetic diversity within Theileria equi 18S rRNA gene sequences has led to the identification of five genotypes A, B, C, D, and E, complicating molecular and serological diagnosis. In addition, T. haneyi has lately been reported as a species closely related to the T. equi 18S rRNA genotype C (Knowles et al., 2018). The...
Toll-like receptors (TLR) are a family of proteins that signal activation of the innate immune response through the recognition of a variety of pathogen molecular compounds. Here, we characterized the complete TLR9 gene in Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) from three populations in South Africa and compared sequences to a variety of horse and...
The Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) is a subspecies of mountain zebra endemic to South Africa. The Cape mountain zebra experienced near extinction in the early 1900’s and their numbers have since recovered to more than 4,800 individuals. However, there are still threats to their long-term persistence. A previous study reported that Cape mou...
Translocation of animals in fragmented habitats is an important means of dispersal and gene flow, however, the movement of animals has led to the spread of various diseases globally and wildlife are often the reservoirs of these diseases. Currently, Cape mountain zebra are translocated within South Africa as a management method for augmentation of...
Since CD8⁺ T cells play an important role in resistance to infection with heartwater, effective vaccines against this disease will likely require identification of antigens that contain CD8⁺ T cell epitopes responsible for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses. With the use of the fluorescent antigen-transfected target cell (FATT)-CTL assay, IFN-γ...
