Project description:Transcriptome profiling revealed that key rumen epithelium functions change in relation to short-chain fatty acids and rumen epithelium-attached microbiota during the weaning transition
Project description:Comprehensive analyses of tissues at single-cell level will benefit our understanding of genetic bases for complex traits. Here we present an initial effort of single-cell transcriptomic analyses of cattle ruminal epithelial cells during the rumen development. We obtained 5064 and 1372 cells from Holstein ruminal epithelial cells before and after weaning, respectively. We reported 6 cell types across their temporal and spatial distributions, which were partially correlated with rumen epithelium layer’s structures and functions. We also reported a distinct sets of cell markers for these cell types, for example, CRA1, HMMR, MKI67, and EZH2 for the dividing epithelial cells and the TGFB pathway and the keratin gene family for keratinized epithelial cells. Our proposed a cell lineage model may contribute to the understanding of cattle rumen epithelial proliferation and development.
Project description:Effects of dietary forage and calf starter on ruminal pH and transcriptomic adaptation of the rumen epithelium in Holstein calves during the weaning transition
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in rumen epithelium of dairy cattle at different stages of rumen development and on different diets.
Project description:We assessed the transcriptomic adaptation of the calf rumen epithelium to changes in ruminal pH caused by feeding calf starter with and without forage during weaning transition.
Project description:We assessed the transcriptomic adaptation of the calf rumen epithelium to changes in ruminal pH caused by feeding calf starter with and without forage during weaning transition. The calves were divided into a gorage provision group (HAY group, n = 3) and forage non-provision group (CON group, n = 4) 3 weeks after weaning.
Project description:The Gayal (Bos frontalis) is a rare semi-domesticated cattle in China. Gayal has typical beef body shape and good meat production performance. Compared with other cattle species, it has the characteristics of tender meat and extremely low fat content. To explore the underlying mechanism responsible for the differences of meat quality between different breeds, the longissimus dorsi muscle (LM) from Gayal and Banna cattle (Bos taurus) were investigated using transcriptome analysis. The gene expression profiling identified 638 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between LM muscles from Gayal and Banna cattle. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment of biological functions and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that the gene products were mainly involved in the PPAR signaling pathway, lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism pathway. Protein-protein interaction（PPI） network analysis showed APOB, CYP7A1, THBS2, ITGAV, IGFBP1 and IGF2R may have great impact on meat quality characteristics of Gayal. Moreover, three transcription factors, FOXA2, NEUROG2, and RUNX1, which may affect meat quality by regulating the expression of genes related to muscle growth and development have also been found. In summary, our research reveals the molecular mechanisms that cause Gayal meat quality characteristics. It will contribute to improving meat quality of cattle through molecular breeding.
Project description:As the unique organ, rumen plays vital roles in providing products for humans, however, the underlying cell composition and interactions with epithelium-attached microbes remain largely unknown. Herein, we performed an integrated analysis in single-cell transcriptome, epithelial microbiome, and metabolome of rumen tissues to explore the differences of microbiota-host crosstalk between newborn and adult cattle models. We found that fewer epithelial cell subtypes and more abundant immune cells (e.g., Th17 cells) in the rumen tissue of adult cattle. Metabolism-related functions and oxidation-reduction process were significantly upregulated in the adult rumen epithelial cell subtypes. The epithelial Desulfovibrio was significantly enriched in the adult cattle. To further clarify the role of Desulfovibrio in host’s oxidation-reduction process, we performed metabolomics analysis of rumen tissues and found that Desulfovibrio showed a high co-occurrence probability with the pyridoxal in the adult cattle compared with newborn ones. The adult rumen epithelial cell subtypes also showed stronger ability of pyridoxal binding. These indicates that Desulfovibrio and pyridoxal likely play important roles in maintaining redox balance in adult rumen. The integrated analysis provides novel insights into the understanding of rumen function and facilitate the future precision improvement of rumen function and milk/meat production in cattle.
