Dataset Information

Retained Acetylated Histone Four in Bull Sperm Associated With Fertility.

ABSTRACT: Bull fertility, ability of the sperm to fertilize and activate the egg and support embryo development, is vital for cattle reproduction and production. Even though majority of histones are replaced by protamines, some histones are retained in sperm. It is known that chromatin remodeling during spermatogenesis results in dynamic changes in sperm chromatin structure through post-translational modifications (PTM) of sperm histones, which are important for regulation of gene expression. However, amounts of sperm Histone 4 (H4), its acetylated form (H4 acetyl), and to what extent these molecular attributes influence sperm chromatin structure and bull fertility are unknown. These gaps in the knowledge base are important because they are preventing advances in the fundamental science of bovine male gamete and improvement of bull fertility. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that expression dynamics as well as PTM of sperm H4 are associated with bull fertility. Flow cytometry was utilized to quantify H4 and H4 acetylated form in sperm from seven high and seven low fertility Holstein bulls. The results indicated that the average number of cells with H4 or H4 acetyl expression in high and low fertility bull sperm were 34.6 ± 20.4, 1.88 ± 1.8, 15.2 ± 20.8, and 1.4 ± 1.2, respectively. However, the sperm enriched in both H4 and H4 acetyl were different between high and low fertility groups (3.5 ± 0.6; 1.8 ± 0.8; P = 0.043). The localization and detection of H4 and H4 acetylation were measured by immunocytochemistry which revealed that H4 and H4 acetylation were equally distributed in the sperm head of high and low fertility sires. Western blotting results confirmed the presence of the H4 and its acetylated form in the sperm. Bioinformatics studies demonstrated that H4 is highly conserved among mammalians, and have significant gene ontology on spermatogenesis, early embryo implantation, and sperm capacitation. The results are significant because it demonstrates the replacement of canonical histone H4 into modified H4 acetylation in sperm and regulate its dynamics which is crucial for bull fertility and reproductive biotechnology. These findings advance fundamental science of mammalian early development and reproductive biotechnology.

SUBMITTER: Ugur MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685445 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Retained Acetylated Histone Four in Bull Sperm Associated With Fertility.

Ugur Muhammet Rasit MR Kutchy Naseer Ahmad NA de Menezes Erika Bezerra EB Ul-Husna Asma A Haynes Bethany Peyton BP Uzun Alper A Kaya Abdullah A Topper Einko E Moura Arlindo A Memili Erdogan E

Frontiers in veterinary science 20190731

Bull fertility, ability of the sperm to fertilize and activate the egg and support embryo development, is vital for cattle reproduction and production. Even though majority of histones are replaced by protamines, some histones are retained in sperm. It is known that chromatin remodeling during spermatogenesis results in dynamic changes in sperm chromatin structure through post-translational modifications (PTM) of sperm histones, which are important for regulation of gene expression. However, amo ...[more]

PMID: 31417913

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Project description:Bull fertility is the degree of sperm's ability to fertilize and activate the egg and support embryo development, and this is critical for herd reproductive performance. We used the bull as a unique model organism for the study of male fertility because cattle genetics and physiology is similar to those of other mammals including humans. Moreover, reliable fertility data along with well-established in vitro systems are available for bovine. The objective of this original study was to ascertain evolutionary diversification and expression dynamics of Testis Specific Histone 2B (TH2B) in sperm from Holstein bulls with different fertility scores.The intensity of TH2B was determined by using flow cytometry in sperm from 13 high and 13 low fertility bulls. Expression levels of TH2B were measured using immunofluorescence and Western blotting in sperm from five high and five low fertility bulls. Sequence identity, evolutionary distance and interactome of TH2B were evaluated by dotmatcher, STRING and Cytoscape. Data were analyzed using linear mixed effects model and regression plots were drawn.The intensity of TH2B as measured by flow cytometry was significantly affected by an interaction between fertility group and fertility score (P = 0.0182). The intensity of TH2B in sperm from the high fertility group decreased (P = 0.0055) as fertility increased. TH2B was constantly detectable in sperm and expression levels of TH2B decreased in relation to fertility in sperm from the high fertility group (P = 0.018). TH2B biological functions include male gamete generation, chromosome organization, DNA packaging, DNA conformation change, chromatin organization, nucleosome organization, chromatin disassembly, spermatid nucleus elongation, spermatid nucleus differentiation, sperm motility, chromatin organization, chromatin condensation, chromatin silencing, nucleus organization, and chromatin remodeling (P < 0.05).We elucidated the cellular localization and molecular physiology of TH2B using both computational and cell biology approaches. In addition to advancing the fundamental science of mammalian male gamete, the present findings can be potentially used to evaluate semen quality and predict male fertility in the future.This study did not involve any live animals. We did not perform any anesthesia, euthanasia, or any kind of animal sacrifice. The cryopreserved semen samples were obtained from Alta Genetics, Inc., Watertown, WI, USA. All samples were preserved in liquid nitrogen.

Project description:Fertility is one of the most economically important traits in both beef and dairy cattle production; however, only female fertility is typically subjected to selection. Male and female fertility have only a small positive genetic correlation which is likely due to the existence of a relatively small number of genetic variants within each breed that cause embryonic and developmental losses. Genomic tools have been developed that allow the identification of lethal recessive loci based upon marker haplotypes. Selection against haplotypes harbouring lethal alleles in conjunction with selection to improve female fertility will result in an improvement in male fertility. Genomic selection has resulted in a two to fourfold increase in the rate of genetic improvement of most dairy traits in US Holstein cattle, including female fertility. Considering the rapidly increasing rate of adoption of high-throughput single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping in both the US dairy and beef industries, genomic selection should be the most effective of all currently available approaches to improve male fertility. However, male fertility phenotypes are not routinely recorded in natural service mating systems and when artificial insemination is used, semen doses may be titrated to lower post-thaw progressively motile sperm numbers for high-merit and high-demand bulls. Standardization of sperm dosages across bull studs for semen distributed from young bulls would allow the capture of sire conception rate phenotypes for young bulls that could be used to generate predictions of genetic merit for male fertility in both males and females. These data would allow genomic selection to be implemented for male fertility in addition to female fertility within the US dairy industry. While the rate of use of artificial insemination is much lower within the US beef industry, the adoption of sexed semen in the dairy industry has allowed dairy herds to select cows from which heifer replacements are produced and cows that are used to produce terminal crossbred bull calves sired by beef breed bulls. Capture of sire conception rate phenotypes in dairy herds utilizing sexed semen will contribute data enabling genomic selection for male fertility in beef cattle breeds. As the commercial sector of the beef industry increasingly adopts fixed-time artificial insemination, sire conception rate phenotypes can be captured to facilitate the development of estimates of genetic merit for male fertility within US beef breeds.

Project description:Tall fescue [Schedonorus phoenix (Scop.) Holub] accounts for nearly 16 million hectares of pasture in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. due to its heat, drought, and pest resistance, conferred to the plant by its symbiotic relationship with the endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum. The endophyte produces ergot alkaloids that have negative effects on the growth and reproduction of animals, resulting in the syndrome known as fescue toxicosis. The objectives of our study were to identify microRNA (miRNA) present in bovine sperm and to evaluate the effects of fescue toxicosis on sperm miRNA expression. Angus bulls were assigned to treatments of either toxic or non-toxic fescue seed diets. Semen was collected and subjected to RNA isolation. Three samples from each treatment group were chosen and pooled for deep sequencing. To compare miRNA expression between treatment groups, a microarray was designed and conducted. For each of the top ten expressed miRNA, target prediction analysis was conducted using TargetScan. Gene ontology enrichment was assessed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery. Sequencing results elucidated the presence of 1,582 unique small RNA present in sperm. Of those sequences, 382 were known Bos taurus miRNA, 22 were known but novel to Bos taurus, and 816 were predicted candidate miRNA that did not map to any currently reported miRNA. Of the sequences chosen for microarray, twenty-two showed significant differential expression between treatment groups. Gene pathways of interest included: regulation of transcription, embryonic development (including blastocyst formation), Wnt and Hedgehog signaling, oocyte meiosis, and kinase and phosphatase activity. MicroRNA present in mature sperm appears to not only be left over from spermatogenic processes, but may actually serve important regulatory roles in fertilization and early developmental processes. Further, our results indicate the possibility that environmental changes may impact the expression of specific miRNA.

Dataset Information

Retained Acetylated Histone Four in Bull Sperm Associated With Fertility.

Publications

Retained Acetylated Histone Four in Bull Sperm Associated With Fertility.

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