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Environmental adaptation traits of indigenous African cattle are increasingly being investigated to respond to the need for sustainable livestock production in the context of unpredictable climatic changes. Several studies have highlighted genomic regions under positive selection probably associated with adaptation to environmental challenges (e.g. heat stress, trypanosomiasis, tick and tick‐borne diseases). However, little attention has focused on pinpointing the candidate causative variant(s) controlling the traits. This review compiled information from 22 studies on signatures of positive selection in indigenous African cattle breeds to identify regions under positive selection. We highlight some key candidate genome regions and genes of relevance to the challenges of living in extreme environments (high temperature, high altitude, high infectious disease prevalence). They include candidate genes involved in biological pathways relating to innate and adaptive immunity (e.g. BoLAs, SPAG11, IL1RL2 and GFI1B), heat stress (e.g. HSPs, SOD1 and PRLH) and hypoxia responses (e.g. BDNF and INPP4A). Notably, the highest numbers of candidate regions are found on BTA3, BTA5 and BTA7. They overlap with genes playing roles in several biological functions and pathways. These include but are not limited to growth and feed intake, cell stability, protein stability and sweat gland development. This review may further guide targeted genome studies aiming to assess the importance of candidate causative mutations, within regulatory and protein‐coding genome regions, to further understand the biological mechanisms underlying African cattle's unique adaption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever increasing applications of bioinformatics in providing effective interpretation of large and complex biological data require expertise in the use of sophisticated computational tools and advanced statistical tests, skills that are mostly lacking in the Sudanese research community. This can be attributed to paucity in the development and promotion of bioinformatics, lack of senior bioinformaticians, and the general status quo of inadequate research funding in Sudan. In this paper, we describe the challenges that have encountered the development of bioinformatics as a discipline in Sudan. Additionally, we highlight on specific actions that may help develop and promote its education and training. The paper takes the National University Biomedical Research Institute (NUBRI) as an example of an institute that has tackled many of these challenges and strives to drive powerful efforts in the development of bioinformatics in the country. Author summary: Bioinformatics is gaining recognition globally and in Sudan as an important subdiscipline of biological sciences, one that enables researchers to efficiently interpret complex biological data. A limited number of Sudanese academic institutions have acknowledged this field despite its increasingly recognized importance. The development of bioinformatics in the country requires interdisciplinary collaborations involving experts in life sciences, research methodology, healthcare, computer, and data sciences. This can be achieved through designing educational programs and workshops alongside proposing and establishing effective collaborative research projects. In this context, we comprehensively discussed the present state of bioinformatics in Sudan, the challenges faced, as well as the efforts exerted by academic institutions including NUBRI, to upgrade infrastructure and establish local and international collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]