Project description:Environmental estrogens may affect epigenetic programming as early as the period of preimplantation development. Therefore, we analyzed the effects of continuous gestational estradiol-17β (E2) exposure on male and female embryos. A low dose, close to the no-observed effect level (NOEL - 10 µg E2/kg body weight(bw)/d), a high dose (1000 µg E2/kg bw/d) and carrier only, as control group, was fed to sows from insemination until sampling at day 10 of pregnancy, respectively. 36 samples (n = 5-7 per treatment group and sex) were analyzed by high throughput sequencing.In the high dose group, RNA-sequencing of single embryos revealed 982 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in the female but none in the male blastocysts. Moreover, 62 and 3 DEG were found in female and male embryos of the NOEL dose group, respectively. Thus, maternal E2 treatment during early pregnancy affected gene expression of the embryos at day 10, potentially constituting the basis for long-term adverse effects.
Project description:In our previous sow study, two subpopulations of feed-restricted sows (60% of anticipated feed intake) were identified: ‘Restrict (Risk)’ that mobilized higher levels of body tissue stores (>40MJ ME day-1) compared to ‘Restrict (Non-Risk)’ sows (Patterson et al. Reprod. Fert. Deveopl., 2011, 23, 889-898) and although Risk sows maintain higher litter growth in the weaned litter, this was at the expense of lower embryonic weight in their subsequent litter compared with Non-Risk sows. To understand the underlying molecular mechanisms involved, we investigated the gene expression profiles of embryos from Risk and Non-Risk litters in this experiment.
Project description:Detection of differentially expressed genes in Day 30 embryos during gestation in primiparous (PP) sow with different intermittent suckling and breeding strategies
Project description:Maternal exposure to estrogens can induce long-term adverse effects in the offspring. This may be mediated through alterations in the endometrium affecting embryo-maternal communication as early as the preimplantational phase. Thus, we analyzed the effects of gestational estradiol-17β (E2) exposure on the endometrium. Two distinct low doses and a high dose (0.05, 10 and 1000 µg E2/kg body weight daily, respectively) were orally applied to sows from insemination until sampling at day 10 of pregnancy and compared to carrier-treated controls. RNA-sequencing revealed a dose-dependent increase of 14, 17 and 27 differentially expressed genes (DEG), respectively. Overall, the maternal E2 treatment perturbed gene expression of the endometrium, potentially altering the uterine histotroph.
Project description:Primiparous sows were randomly allocated to two treatments and were separated from piglets 8h daily from Day 21 of lactation companied with daily boar exposure for oestrus detection until weaning (Day 28). Gene expression of Day 9 embryos were compared between control sows (FE; sows artificially inseminated when in heat during lactation ) and Skip-a-Heat sows (SE; sows in heat during lactation and artificially inseminated on the following oestrus cycle).