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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Nutrition, Growth and Physiology » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #339281
Title: Moderate nutrient restriction influences transcript abundance of genes impacting production efficiencies of beef cattle in fetal liver, muscle, and cerebrum by d 50 of gestation

Author
item CROUSE, MATTHEW - North Dakota State University
item CATON, JOEL - North Dakota State University
item Cushman, Robert - Bob
item MCLEAN, K - North Dakota State University
item DAHLEN, C - North Dakota State University
item BOROWICZ, P - North Dakota State University
item REYNOLDS, LAWRENCE - North Dakota State University
item WARD, A - North Dakota State University

Submitted to: American Society of Animal Science Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2017
Publication Date: 6/1/2017
Citation: Crouse, M., Caton, J.S., Cushman, R.A., McLean, K.J., Dahlen, C.R., Borowicz, P.P., Reynolds, L.P., Ward, A.K. 2017. Moderate nutrient restriction influences transcript abundance of genes impacting production efficiencies of beef cattle in fetal liver, muscle, and cerebrum by d 50 of gestation. Proceedings, Western Section, American Society of Animal Science. 68:42-47. doi: 10.2527/asasws.2017.0014.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We hypothesized that a moderate maternal nutrient restriction during the first 50 d of gestation in beef heifers would affect transcript abundance of genes impacting production efficiency phenotypes in fetal liver, muscle, and cerebrum. Fourteen Angus-cross heifers were estrus synchronized and assigned at breeding to one of two dietary treatments (CON- 100% of nutrient requirements to gain 0.45 kg/d; RES- 60% of CON). At d 50 of gestation, heifers were ovariohysterectomized, and fetal liver, muscle, and cerebrum were collected. Analysis for RNA-seq was conducted on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform using 50-bp paired-end reads at a depth of 2 × 10.4M reads/sample. Transcriptome analysis was performed using the Tuxedo Suite, and ontological analysis with DAVID 6.8. For fetal liver, muscle, and cerebrum, a total of 548, 317, and 151 genes, respectively (P < 0.01) were differentially expressed, of which 201, 92, and 28 genes, respectively were false discovery rate protected (FDR; q < 0.10). Differentially expressed genes were screened to determine whether they fit into functional categories of pathways or ontologies associated with known impacts on production efficiencies. In fetal liver, 5 functional categories of interest were affected by nutritional treatment: metabolic pathways (n = 43 genes), protein kinase (n = 47 genes), nucleosome core (n = 22 genes), mRNA splicing (n = 7 genes), and complement/coagulation cascades (n = 6 genes). In fetal muscle, 3 functional categories of interest were affected by nutritional treatment: skeletal muscle (n = 74 genes), embryogenesis (n = 14 genes), and signaling cascades (n = 18 genes). In fetal cerebrum, 3 functional categories of interest were affected by nutritional treatment: hippocampus and neurogenesis (n = 32 genes), metal-binding (n = 23 genes), and cytoskeleton (n = 5 genes). These results demonstrate that a moderate maternal nutrient restriction during the first 50 d of gestation in beef heifers alters transcript abundance of genes impacting production efficiencies in fetal liver, muscle, and cerebrum. Additionally, these data lay the foundation upon which further research identifying the phenotypic responses to changes in these pathways may be elucidated. Finally, identifying specific supplementation strategies to mitigate alterations in transcript abundance due to aberrant maternal nutrition during early gestation will provide additional means to increase production efficiencies in beef cattle. Emerging targets include liver metabolism and feed efficiency, muscle fiber formation and tenderness, as well as programmed cerebral formation and temperament.