Project description:We investigated the nutritional effects on gene expression in sperm cells of F0 boars from a three generation Large White pig feeding experiment. A group of experimental (E) F0 boars were fed a standard diet supplemented with high amounts of methylating micronutrients whereas a control (C) group of F0 boars received a standard diet. These differentially fed F0 boars sired F1 boars which then sired 60 F2 pigs which were investigated in a previous study. The aim of this study was to investigate if the nutrition affects gene expression in sperm cells of differentially fed boars and thus carry information in the form of RNA molecules to the next generation. Four RNA samples from sperm cells of these differentially fed boars were analyzed by RNA-Seq methodology. We found no differential RNA expression in sperm cells of the two groups based on the adjusted P-value > 0.05. Nevertheless, we performed a pathway analysis with 105 genes that differed in gene expression on the level of nominal P-value < 0.05 between the two diet groups. We found a significant number of these differentially expressed genes were enriched for the pathway maps of bacterial infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) airways, glycolysis and gluconeogenesis p.3 and cell cycle_Initiation of mitosis. The GO processes including a significant portion of differentially expressed genes were viral transcription and viral genome expression, viral infectious cycle, cellular protein localization, cellular macromolecule localization, nuclear-transcribed mRNA catabolic process and nonsense-mediated decay. In summary, the results of the pathway analysis are also inconclusive and it is concluded that RNA expression in sperm cells is not significantly affected by extensive supplementation of methylating micronutrients. Consequently, RNA molecules could not be established as epigenetic marks in this feeding experiment. Gene expression in sperm cells from differentially fed F0 boars was measured. F0 boars received either a standard diet or a standard diet supplemented with methylating micronutrients. These boars were used to study transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in a three generation pig pedigree. Therefore it was of interest if the diet affects gene expression in sperm cells which could then be transmitted to next generations.

Project description:Chromatin packaging in sperm protects it against DNA fragmentation, and the importance of proper chromatin packaging for boar fertility outcome has become increasingly evident. Little is known however about the molecular mechanisms underlying differences in sperm DNA fragmentation and an understanding of the genes controlling this sperm parameter could help in selecting the best boars for AI use. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes in testis of Norsvin Landrace and Duroc boars with good and bad sperm DNA fragmentation using transcriptome sequencing and to use the data for polymorphism search. RNA sequence reads were obtained using Illumina technology and mapped by TopHat using the Ensembl pig database. Differentially expressed genes and pathways were analyzed using the R Bioconductor packages edgeR and goseq respectively. Using a false discovery rate of 0.05, 309 and 375 genes were found displaying significant differences in expression level between the good and bad condition in Landrace and Duroc respectively. Of the differentially expressed genes, 72 were found in common for the two breeds. Gene ontology analysis revealed that terms common for the two breeds included extracellular matrix, extracellular region and calcium ion binding. Additionally, different metabolic processes were enriched in Landrace and Duroc, whereas immune response ontologies were found to be important in Landrace. SNP detection in Landrace/Duroc identified 53182/53931 variants in 10924/10748 transcripts and of these, 1573/1827 SNPs occurred in 189/241 unique genes that were also differentially expressed. Possible high impact variants were detected using SnpEff. Transcriptome sequencing identified differentially expressed genes and nucleotide variants related to differences in sperm DNA fragmentation, and functional annotation of the genes pointed towards important biochemical pathways. This study provides insights into the genetic network underlying this trait and is a first step towards using sperm DNA fragmentation for predicting boar fertility.

Project description:We investigated the nutritional effects on gene expression in testes of F0 boars from a three generation Large White pig feeding experiment. A group of experimental (E) F0 boars were fed a standard diet supplemented with high amounts of methylating micronutrients whereas a control (C) group of F0 boars received a standard diet. These differentially fed F0 boars sired F1 boars which then sired 60 F2 pigs which were investigated in a previous study. The aim of this project was to investigate if the nutrition affects gene expression in testis of differentially fed boars and thus impact on spermatogenesis. We found a small number of 70 genes that were differentially expressed (fc ≥ 1) on the P<0.01 significance level. The false discovery rate (FDR) was 0.82 indicating that only a small portion of these genes are real positives. Nevertheless, we performed a pathway analysis and found this moderate differential expression associated with pathways maps of development_A2B receptor: action via G-protein alpha s, cell adhesion_Tight junctions and cell adhesion_Endothelial cell contacts by junctional mechanisms. The gene ontology (GO) processes that matched the gene expression data in boars’ testes were positive regulation of nucleobase-containing compound metabolic process, cellular response to hormone stimulus and cellular process. The pathway maps and GO processes associated with gene expression differences do not indicate a simple relationship between nutritional influences and gene expression in testes. Nevertheless the Adenosine A2B receptor influences cell differentiation and proliferation and has thus far reaching consequences. Similar applies to those GO processes positive regulation of nucleobase-containing compound metabolic process, cellular response to hormone stimulus and cellular process that were associated with differentially expressed genes between the testes samples. The expression result is thus not conclusive of whether the diet affects processes related to transmittable epigenetic marks. The results, however, indicate that the extreme supplementation of methylating micronutrients from month one to month ten of age has a very moderate (if any) effect on gene expression in boar testes as measured by microarray analysis. Gene expression in testes from differentially fed F0 boars was measured. F0 boars received either a standard diet or a standard diet supplemented with methylating micronutrients. These boars were used to study transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in a three generation pig pedigree. Therefore it was of interest if the diet affects gene expression in testes and so could impact spermatogenesis.

Project description:We investigated the nutritional effects on gene expression in testes of F0 boars from a three generation Large White pig feeding experiment. A group of experimental (E) F0 boars were fed a standard diet supplemented with high amounts of methylating micronutrients whereas a control (C) group of F0 boars received a standard diet. These differentially fed F0 boars sired F1 boars which then sired 60 F2 pigs which were investigated in a previous study. The aim of this project was to investigate if the nutrition affects gene expression in testis of differentially fed boars and thus impact on spermatogenesis. We found a small number of 70 genes that were differentially expressed (fc ≥ 1) on the P<0.01 significance level. The false discovery rate (FDR) was 0.82 indicating that only a small portion of these genes are real positives. Nevertheless, we performed a pathway analysis and found this moderate differential expression associated with pathways maps of development_A2B receptor: action via G-protein alpha s, cell adhesion_Tight junctions and cell adhesion_Endothelial cell contacts by junctional mechanisms. The gene ontology (GO) processes that matched the gene expression data in boars’ testes were positive regulation of nucleobase-containing compound metabolic process, cellular response to hormone stimulus and cellular process. The pathway maps and GO processes associated with gene expression differences do not indicate a simple relationship between nutritional influences and gene expression in testes. Nevertheless the Adenosine A2B receptor influences cell differentiation and proliferation and has thus far reaching consequences. Similar applies to those GO processes positive regulation of nucleobase-containing compound metabolic process, cellular response to hormone stimulus and cellular process that were associated with differentially expressed genes between the testes samples. The expression result is thus not conclusive of whether the diet affects processes related to transmittable epigenetic marks. The results, however, indicate that the extreme supplementation of methylating micronutrients from month one to month ten of age has a very moderate (if any) effect on gene expression in boar testes as measured by microarray analysis.

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Stump tail sperm defect in Large White boars

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