Blood immune transcriptome analysis of artificially fed dairy calves and naturally suckled beef calves from birth to 7 days of age
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ABSTRACT: The aim of the overall study was to investigate the development of immune competence in artificially reared dairy calves and in two breeds of naturally suckled beef calves over the first 168h of life. Dairy calves were fed 5% total body weight of colostrum, with beef calves monitored to ensure natural ingestion of colostrum. Blood samples were taken from all calves at 24h 48h 72h and 168h, and analysed for alterations to immunes genes.
Project description:Delivery of colostrum within the first several hours after birth is vital for establishing successful passive immunity in neonatal dairy calves. However, it is unclear whether the difference in colostrum feeding strategy can affect the development of the calf gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of colostrum feeding time within the first 12 h after birth on the colonic mucosal immune system in neonatal calves using a genome wide transcriptome analysis.RNA sequencing based transcriptome analysis of colon tissues collected from twenty-seven male Holstein calves which were randomly assigned to one of three colostrum feeding strategies (immediately after birth (TRT0); 6 h after birth (TRT6); 12 h after birth (TRT12)) and were euthanized at 51 h of age detected 15935 ± 210, 15332 ± 415, and 15539 ± 440 expressed genes in groups, respectively. The core transcriptome of the colon in dairy calves included 12,678 genes, with enriched “cellular process” and “metabolic process” as the top three biological functions. Expression of 802 immune related genes were detected in the colon tissue. Principal component analysis of the transcriptomes did not display a clear separation by colostrum feeding strategy, and differential abundance analyses showed no significant difference in the expression of immune related genes among the treatments.Transcriptome analysis indicates that the development of the colonic mucosal immune system in neonatal calves may be independent of the timing of initial colostrum meal within 12 h after birth.
Project description:Our study would like to explore the different colostrum feeding time treatment, as well as the influence of host-microbial interaction on transcriptome profile and enriched functions of the two day old dairy calves.
Project description:Neonatal calves possess a very immature and naïve immune system and are reliant on the intake of maternal colostrum for passive transfer of immunoglobulins. Variation in colostrum management of beef and dairy calves is thought to affect early immune development. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine changes in gene expression and investigate molecular pathways involved in the immune-competence development of neonatal Holstein dairy calves and naturally suckled beef calves using next generation RNA-sequencing during the first week of life. Jugular whole blood samples were collected from Holstein (H) dairy calves (n = 8) artificially fed 5% B.W. colostrum, and from beef calves which were the progenies of Charolais-Limousin (CL; n = 7) and Limousin-Friesian beef suckler cows (LF; n = 7), for subsequent RNA isolation. In dairy calves, there was a surge in pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression possibly due to the stress of separation from the dam. LF calves exhibited early signs of humoral immune development with observed increases in the expression genes coding for Ig receptors, which was not evident in the other breeds by 7 days of age. Immune and health related DEGs identified as upregulated in beef calves are prospective contender genes for the classification of biomarkers for immune-competence development, and will contribute towards a greater understanding of the development of an immune response in neonatal calves.
Project description:Serotonin is a monoamine that regulates processes such as energy balance and immune function. Manipulating this pathway in growing dairy calves could promote growth and development by modulating functions and signaling pathways within key organs. In this study, we characterized the adipose and muscle transcriptome of pre-weaned calves with increased serotonin bioavailability through the elucidation of differentially expressed genes.
Project description:The aim of this study was to identify changes in transcriptome of parenchyma (PAR), fat pad (MFP) and liver in dairy calves. Our earlier results showed that feeding management regulates the dynamics of organ growth in preweaned heifers. We observed that a daily dose of 5.3 kg of milk replacer inhibits mammary gland development. Therefore, this research aims at evaluation of the influence of the nutritional level in the early life period of calves on the biological processes related to the development of the mammary gland through transcriptomic alterations.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that participate in regulation of gene expression. Their role during mammary gland development is still largely unknown. In the present study, we performed a microarray analysis to identify miRNAs associated with high mammogenic potential of bovine mammary gland. We identified 54 miRNAs differing significantly between mammary tissue of dairy (Holstein-Friesian, HF) and beef (Limousine, LM) post-pubertal heifers. Fifty two miRNAs had higher expression in the mammary tissue of LM heifers. Enrichment analyses for targeted genes revealed that the major differences between miRNA expression in the mammary gland of HF vs. LM were associated with regulation of signalling pathways crucial for mammary gland development, such as: TGF-beta, insulin, WNT and inflammatory pathways. Moreover, a number of genes potentially targeted by differentially expressed miRNAs was associated with mammary stem cells’ activity. These data indicate that in dairy cattle high developmental potential of the mammary gland, leading to high milk productivity, not only depends on central neuro-endocrine regulation but also on specific miRNA expression pattern. miRNA profiling of Holstein Freisian (dairy breed) and Limousne heifers (beef breed) mammay glands. Two-condition experiment, LM (test) vs. HF (reference). Total RNA was isolated from quarters of 4 LM and 4 HFmammary glands.
Project description:Bovine Herpesvirus 1 (BoHV1) is a leading cause of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in young calves, which is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to elucidate the bronchial lymph node mRNA transcriptomic response to an experimental challenge with BoHV1, in dairy calves. Holstein-Friesian calves were either challenged by intranasal atomisation with BoHV1 virus (6.3 x 10^7/mL x 1.35mL) (n=12) or mock challenged with sterile phosphate buffered saline (n=6). Clinical signs were scored daily until euthanasia at day 6 post-challenge. Total RNA was extracted and sequenced from bronchial lymph node tissue (150 bp paired-end). Sequence reads were aligned to the ARS-UCD1.2 bovine reference genome and differential gene expression analysis was performed using EdgeR. An MDS plot displayed an obvious separation between BoHV1 challenged and control calves based on bronchial lymph node gene expression changes. There were 337 differentially expressed (DE) genes (p < 0.05, FDR < 0.1, fold change > 2) between the BoHV1challenged and control calves.