Dataset Information

Long-term effects of prior diets, dietary transition and pregnancy on adipose gene expression in dairy heifers.

ABSTRACT: Adipose tissue is highly involved in whole-body metabolism and is the main site for lipid synthesis, storage and mobilization in ruminants. Therefore, knowledge about adipose tissue responses to different diets is important, especially in growing heifers as the feeding regimes of replacement heifers affect their future success as dairy cows. However, at gene expression level such knowledge is limited. As part of a larger feed trial, adipose tissue biopsies from 24 Norwegian Red heifers were collected at 12 months of age (12MO) and at month seven of gestation (PREG) and analyzed by next-generation mRNA sequencing. Between these two sampling points, all heifers had gone through a successful conception and a feed change from four dietary treatments of high or low energy (HE/LE) and protein (HP/LP) content (treatments LPHE, HPHE, LPLE and HPLE) to a low-energy, low-protein pregnancy feed given to all animals. Gene expression differences between different feed treatments at 12MO are described in an earlier publication from our group. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the long-term effects of diets differing in protein and energy density level on gene expression in adipose tissue of growing replacement dairy heifers. To achieve this, we examined the post-treatment effects between the treatment groups at month seven of gestation; 6 months after the termination of experimental feeding, and the long-term gene expression changes occurring in the adipose tissue between 12MO and PREG. Post-treatment group comparisons showed evidence of long-term effects of dietary treatment on adipose gene expression. Differences between protein treatments were smaller than between energy treatments. Adipose gene expression changes from 12MO to PREG were much larger for the HE than the LE treatments and seemed to mostly be explained by the characteristics of the diet change. 97 genes displayed a unidirectional expression change for all groups from 12MO to PREG, and are considered to be treatment-independent, possibly caused by pregnancy or increased age. This study provides candidate genes and key regulators for further studies on pregnancy preservation (TGFB1, CFD) and metabolic regulation and efficiency (PI3K, RICTOR, MAP4K4,) in dairy cattle.

SUBMITTER: Wærp HKL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6609222 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Long-term effects of prior diets, dietary transition and pregnancy on adipose gene expression in dairy heifers.

Wærp Hilde K L HKL Waters Sinéad M SM McCabe Matthew S MS Cormican Paul P Salte Ragnar R

PloS one 20190703 7

Adipose tissue is highly involved in whole-body metabolism and is the main site for lipid synthesis, storage and mobilization in ruminants. Therefore, knowledge about adipose tissue responses to different diets is important, especially in growing heifers as the feeding regimes of replacement heifers affect their future success as dairy cows. However, at gene expression level such knowledge is limited. As part of a larger feed trial, adipose tissue biopsies from 24 Norwegian Red heifers were coll ...[more]

PMID: 31269511

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Project description:Adipose tissue is no longer considered a mere energy reserve, but a metabolically and hormonally active organ strongly associated with the regulation of whole-body metabolism. Knowledge of adipose metabolic regulatory function is of great importance in cattle management, as it affects the efficiency and manner with which an animal converts feedstuff to milk, meat and fat. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating metabolism in bovine adipose tissue are still not fully elucidated. The emergence of next-generation sequencing technologies has facilitated the analysis of metabolic function and regulation at the global gene expression level. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of diets differing in protein and energy density level on gene expression in adipose tissue of growing replacement dairy heifers using next-generation RNA sequencing (RNAseq). Norwegian Red heifers were fed either a high- or low-protein concentrate (HP/LP) and a high- or low-energy roughage (HE/LE) diet from 3 months of age until confirmed pregnancy to give four treatments (viz, HPHE, HPLE, LPHE, LPLE) with different growth profiles. Subcutaneous adipose tissue sampled at 12 months of age was analyzed for gene expression differences using RNAseq. The largest difference in gene expression was found between LPHE and LPLE heifers, for which 1092 genes were significantly differentially expressed, representing an up-regulation of mitochondrial function, lipid, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism as well as changes in the antioxidant system in adipose tissue of LPHE heifers. Differences between HPHE and HPLE heifers were much smaller, and dominated by genes representing NAD biosynthesis, as was the significantly differentially expressed genes (DEG) common to both HE-LE contrasts. Differences between HP and LP groups within each energy treatment were minimal. This study emphasizes the importance of transcriptional regulation of adipose tissue energy metabolism, and identifies candidate genes for further studies on early-stage obesity and glucose load in dairy cattle.

Project description:Fatty acids (FA) provide an energy source to the liver during negative energy balance; however, when FA influx is excessive, FA can be stored as liver lipids or incompletely oxidized to β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). The objectives of this study were to quantify plasma and liver FA profiles and hepatic gene expression in cows diagnosed with hyperketonemia (HYK; BHB ≥ 1.2 mM) or not (nonHYK; BHB < 1.2 mM) to determine a relationship between FA profile and expression of hepatic genes related to oxidation and gluconeogenesis. Production parameters, blood samples (-28, -3, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 14 d relative to parturition; n = 28 cows), and liver biopsies (1, 14, and 28 d postpartum; n = 22 cows) were collected from Holstein cows. Cows were retrospectively grouped as HYK or nonHYK based on BHB concentrations in postpartum blood samples. Average first positive test (BHB ≥ 1.2 mM) was 9 ± 5 d (± SD). Cows diagnosed with HYK had greater C18:1 and lower C18:2 plasma proportions. Liver FA proportions of C16:0 and C18:1 were related to proportions in plasma, but C18:0 and C18:2 were not. Some interactions between plasma FA and HYK on liver FA proportion suggests that there may be preferential use depending upon metabolic state. Cows diagnosed with HYK had decreased pyruvate carboxylase (PC) expression, but no difference at 1 d postpartum in either cytosolic or mitochondrial isoforms of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK). The increased PC to PCK ratios in nonHYK cows suggests the potential for greater hepatic oxidative capacity, coinciding with decreased circulating BHB. Interestingly, FA, known regulators of PC expression, were not correlated with PC expression at 1 d postpartum. Taken together, these data demonstrate that HYK cows experience a decrease in the ratio of hepatic PC to PCK at 1 day postpartum prior to HYK diagnosis which, on average, manifested a week later. The differential regulation of PC involved in HYK diagnosis may not be completely due to shifts in FA profiles and warrants further investigation.

Project description:The vaginal microbiota plays an important role in the health of dairy cattle, and it could be manipulated for the prevention and treatment of reproduction-related infections. The present study profiles and compares the vaginal microbiota of healthy dairy heifers during the estrous cycle focusing the results in follicular (estrus) and luteal (diestrus) phases using 16S rRNA sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region. Twenty 13-16-months-old virgin dairy heifers from a single farm were included in this study. Vaginal swabs and blood samples were obtained during estrus (6-8 h before artificial insemination) and diestrus (14 days after insemination). Estrus was evaluated by an activity monitoring system and confirmed with plasma progesterone immunoassay. Results showed that the taxonomic composition of the vaginal microbiota was different during the follicular and luteal phases. At the phylum level, the most abundant bacterial phyla were Tenericutes, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes which comprised more than 75% of the vaginal microbiota composition. The next more abundant phyla, in order of decreasing abundance, were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Fusobacteria, Epsilonbacteraeota, and Patescibacteria. Together with Tenericutes, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes represented more than 96% of the bacterial composition. Ureaplasma, Histophilus, f_Corynebacteriaceae, Porphyromonas, Mycoplasma, Ruminococcaceae UCG-005, were the most abundant genera or families. The results also showed that the vaginal microbiota of dairy heifers was non-lactobacillus dominant. The genus Lactobacillus was always found at a low relative abundance during the estrous cycle being more abundant in the follicular than in the luteal phase. Despite more research is needed to explore the potential use of native vaginal microbiota members as probiotics in dairy heifers, this study represents an important step forward. Understanding how the microbiota behaves in healthy heifers will help to identify vaginal dysbiosis related to disease.

Dataset Information

Long-term effects of prior diets, dietary transition and pregnancy on adipose gene expression in dairy heifers.

Publications

Long-term effects of prior diets, dietary transition and pregnancy on adipose gene expression in dairy heifers.

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