Project description:The bovine transcriptome dynamics in logissimus muscle (LM) during the post-natal growth remain unknown. Biopsies of LM from Angus steers were harvested at 0, 60, 120, and 220 d from early-weaning. A 13,153 bovine oligonucleotide array was used for transcript profiling. Functional analysis of microarray data was performed using the Dynamic Impact Approach (DIA) by means of KEGG and DAVID databases. During the growing phase, most of the highly-impacted pathways (e.g. Ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, Drug metabolism - cytochrome P450 and Retinol metabolism) were inhibited. The finishing phase, was characterized with the most striking differences with 3,784 differentially expressed genes (DEG; FDR <0.01). The functional analysis of those DEG revealed that the most-impacted KEGG canonical pathway was M-bM-^@M-^\Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) - anchor biosynthesisM-bM-^@M-^]. The inhibition of this pathway suggested a unique role of GPI-anchor proteins in intracellular trafficking during the finishing phase. A mechanism regulating muscle growth during the finishing phase was uncovered in which inhibition of calpastatin and activation of tyrosine aminotransferase ubiquitination promote proteasomal degradation, while the concurrent activation of ribosomal proteins promotes protein synthesis, thus, the balance of these processes likely results in a steady state of protein turnover during the finishing phase. Overall, results underscored the importance of transcriptome dynamics in LM to support key biological functions during rapid growth. The study utilized a subset of 14 animals from a larger study encompassing 32 purebred Aberdeen Angus steers from the University of Illinois beef cattle herd. Steer calves were early-weaned (134 M-BM-1 10 d age) and after weaning were placed on a diet of 85% corn silage and 15% wet distillerM-bM-^@M-^Ys grains (as-fed basis) for 3 wk. Subsequently, one half of Angus (n = 16) steers was randomly assigned to a high-byproduct or high-grain diet for a 112 d growing phase. The high-byproduct diet contained (dry matter basis) 35% corn silage, 20% corn gluten feed, 38% soyhulls, 3% cracked corn, and 3% soybean meal (49% crude protein). The high-grain diet contained 20% corn silage, 68% cracked corn, and 11% soybean meal (49% crude protein). Both diets contained 1% limestone/dicalcium phosphate/mineral/vitamin/urea/dry molasses mixture. Calculated NEG for the high-byproduct diet was 1.19 Mcal/kg and 1.43 Mcal/kg for the high-grain diet. At the end of the growing phase, steers on each group were fed M-bM-^@M-^\step-up dietsM-bM-^@M-^] for 10 d. Step-up diet for high-byproduct-fed steers contained 1.37 Mcal NEG/kg. Step-up diet for high-grain-fed steers contained 1.43 Mcal NEG/kg but contained distillerM-bM-^@M-^Ys dried grains (16% of dry matter). After the M-bM-^@M-^\step-upM-bM-^@M-^] period, all steers were finished on a common high-grain finishing diet containing 1.44 Mcal NEG/kg (15% corn silage, 58% cracked corn, 25% dried distillerM-bM-^@M-^Ys grains, 1% limestone, and 1% urea/mineral/vitamin mixture). All diets were offered on an ad libitum basis. Steers had an individual electronic identification ear tag and individual feed intake data were collected using the GrowSafe system (GrowSafe Systems Ltd., Alberta, Canada). Cattle were harvested at approximately 13 mo age. A bovine oligonucleotide (70-mers) microarray with >13,000 annotated sequences developed at the University of Illinois, was used for transcript profiling. Details on the development, annotation, and use of this microarray have been reported previously by Loor et al., 2007 (http://physiolgenomics.physiology.org/content/32/1/105.abstract). Methods for microarray hybridization and scanning were as reported by Loor et al. (2007). Briefly, slides were hydrated, dried, and placed in a UV Stratalinker 1800 (Stratagene, La Joya, CA) for ~5 min. Slides were washed with 0.2% SDS solution, rinsed with MilliQ (Millipore) H2O, and placed in warm prehybridization soln for 45 min at 42 C. The same amount of Cy3- or Cy5-labelled cDNA from muscle and a reference standard RNA pool (made of different bovine tissues) were co-hybridized using a dye-swap design (i.e., two microarrays per sample). Slides were incubated for 48 h at 45 C prior to scanning. Criteria for evaluation of slide quality included: identification of number of spots with a minimum median signal intensity of 3 SD above background; keeping slides with a minimum of 20,000 spots with minimum median signal intensity of 3 SD above background in both Cy3 and Cy5 channels; and keeping slides with a minimum mean intensity of 400 relative fluorescent units in both Cy3 and Cy5 channels across the entire slide. Data from a total of 112 microarrays were normalized for dye and microarray effects (i.e., Lowess normalization and microarray centering) and used for statistical analysis. Data were analyzed using the Proc MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS, SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). Fixed effects were treatment (high-byproduct, high-grain) and time (0, 56, 120, and 220 d), and dye. Random effects included steer and microarray. A covariate adjustment was used to assess treatment and treatment M-CM-^W time interactions, but time effects on gene expression were assessed without covariate adjustment. Raw P values were adjusted using Benjamini and HochbergM-bM-^@M-^Ys false discovery rate (FDR). Differences in relative expression due to treatment M-CM-^W time interactions were considered significant at an FDR-adjusted P < 0.25 or at P < 0.01 for time effects. qPCR data were normalized using the median of 4 suitable internal control genes, and were analyzed using the same statistical model described above. Differences were considered significant at P-value of 0.05.

Project description:Tenderness is one of the most important properties of meat quality, which is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. As an intensively studied epigenetic marker, histone methylation, occurring on arginine and lysine residues, has pivotal regulatory functions on gene expression. To examine whether histone methylation involves in beef tenderness variation, we analyzed the transcriptome and H3K4me3 enrichment profiles of muscle strips obtained from the longissimus dorsi (LD) of Angus steers previously classify to the tender or tough group. We first plotted a global bovine H3K4me3 map on chromosomes and called peak-enriched regions and genes. We found that majorities of H3K4me3 on genes were occupying the first intron and intergenic regions and its maps displayed similar patterns in tender and tough groups, with high H3K4me3 enrichment surrounding the transcription start site (TSS). We also explored the relationship of H3K4me3 and gene expression. The results showed that H3K4me3 enrichment is highly positively correlated with gene expression across the whole genome. Cluster analysis results confirmed the relationship of H3K4me3 enrichment and gene expression. By using a pathway-based approach in genes with H3K4me3 enrichment in promoter regions from the tender cluster, we revealed that those genes involved in the development of different tissues–connective tissue, skeletal and muscular system and functional tissues–; while in tough group those genes engaged in cell death, lipid metabolism and small molecule biochemistry. The results from this study provide a deep insight into understanding of the mechanisms of epigenetic regulations in meat quality and beef tenderness. Nineteen purebred Angus steers were obtained from the Wye Farm. At approximately 12 months of age, the animals were serially harvested. Immediately after harvest, samples of longissimus dorsi (LD) from the right side of the carcass were obtained and placed in RNAlater solution at -80°C. The carcass were stored at 4°C for a total of 14 days. After this period, steaks were obtained from the LD at the level of the 12th intercostal space and then frozen. For measurement of the WBSF, steaks were thawed at room temperature to an internal temperature of 4°C. Then, the steaks were cooked to a core temperature of 70°C using a George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine. The cooked steaks were then cooled down to room temperature. Using a sharp cylinder, especially designed for muscle, six cores (1.27 cm in diameter) were sampled parallel to the muscle fiber orientation. The Warner-Bratzler shear forces (WBSF) of the cores were obtained. The average WBSF of the six cores was calculated and used as the WBSF for the samples. From these 19 steers, 4 with the lowest WBSF values (6.77±0.56 kg) were identified as tender and 5 samples with the largest WBSF values (19.93±0.39 kg) labeled as tough. Then both groups underwent further analysis..

Project description:The grass-fed cattle obtain nutrients directly from pastures containing limited assimilable energy but abundant amount of fiber; by contrast, grain-fed steers receive a diet that is comprised mainly of grains and serves as an efficient source of high-digestible energy. Besides energy, these two types of diet differ in a large number of nutritional components. Additionally, animals maintained on rich-energy regimen are more likely to develop metabolic disorders and infectious diseases than pasture raised individuals. Thus, we hypothesize that spleenâ??the main immune organâ??may function differently under disparate regimes. The objective of this study was to find the differentially expressed genes in the spleen of grass-fed and grain-fed steers, and furtherly explore the potential involved biopathways. Through RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), we detected 123 differentially expressed genes. Based on these genes, we performed an Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and identified 9 significant molecular networks and 13 enriched biological pathways. Two of the pathways, Nur77 signaling in T lymphocytes and calcium-induced T lymphocyte apoptosis which are immune related, contain a pair of genes HLA-DRA and NR4A1 with dramatically altered expression level. Collectively, our results provided valuable insights into understanding the molecular mechanism of spleen under varied feeding regimens. We collected spleen samples from two randomly chosen animals per group, totaling four samples. The animals were born and raised at the Wye Angus farm, which has produced genetically similar progenies. The genetic resemblance among individuals permitted us to better control the variation between experimental individuals, constituting an excellent resource to perform scientific research. All animals included in this study received the same diet until weaning. Next, we assigned the animals to one certain diet at random, and exclusively raised them under that regimen until termination. The diet of grain-fed group consisted of soybean, shelled corn, corn silage and trace minerals. The grass-fed steers normally received alfalfa harvested from land without any fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals; during wintertime, bailage was supplied. Grass-fed individuals ate no animal, agricultural or industrial byproducts and never consumed any type of grain. Grain-fed animals reached the market weight around 14 month-old; however, grass-fed steers needed approximately 200 additional days to achieve the same weight. Immediately after termination at the Old Line Custom Meat Company (Baltimore, MD), a small piece of spleen was incised, washed and frozen at -80Â°C for posterior processing.

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Transcriptional profiling of six normal Angus tissues

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