Project description:Cryopreservation causes significant lethal and sub-lethal damage to spermatozoa. In order to improve freezing outcomes, a comprehensive understanding of sub-lethal damage is required. Cryopreservation induced changes to sperm proteins have been investigated in several species, but few have employed currently available state of the art, data independent acquisition mass spectrometry (MS) methods. We used the SWATH LC-MS method to quantitatively profile proteomic changes to ram spermatozoa following exposure to egg yolk and cryopreservation. Egg yolk contributed 15 proteins to spermatozoa, including vitellogenins, apolipoproteins and complement component C3. Cryopreservation significantly altered the abundance of 51 proteins. Overall, 27 proteins increased (e.g. SERPINB1, FER) and 24 proteins decreased (e.g. CCT subunits, CSNK1G2, TOM1L1) in frozen thawed ram spermatozoa, compared to fresh spermatozoa. Chaperones constituted 20% of the proteins lost from spermatozoa following cryopreservation. These alterations may interfere with both normal cellular functioning and the ability of frozen thawed spermatozoa to appropriately respond to stress. This is the first study to apply SWATH mass spectrometry techniques to characterise proteins contributed by egg yolk based freezing media and to profile cryopreservation induced proteomic changes to ram spermatozoa.
Project description:The proteomic profiles of silky fowl egg yolk (SFEY) and Leghorn egg yolk (LEY) were analysed by bottom-up label-free liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), aiming to provide a theoretical basis for understanding the proteomic and biological differences between the two yolks and further develop the nutritional and biomedical value of silky fowl eggs.
Project description:<p>Internal quality of chicken eggs deteriorates during storage, but the biochemical changes occurring in albumen and yolk over storage time remain insufficiently characterized. This study investigated changes in internal quality traits and specific metabolite profiles in albumen and yolk of chicken eggs at 25.0 to 25.5°C stored for 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. A total of 216 eggs were used, including 116 eggs for internal quality measurements at 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days (n = 24, 22, 20, 23, and 27, respectively) and 100 eggs for metabolomic analysis (n = 20 per time point). Paired albumen and yolk samples were collected from each egg and subjected to untargeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) metabolomics. The results showed that albumen height and Haugh unit decreased markedly by day 7 and further declined by day 21, whereas yolk color changed mainly at day 21 and day 28. After data preprocessing and quality control (QC)-based filtering, 919 and 1104 annotated metabolites were retained in albumen and yolk, respectively. Based on multigroup comparisons across the five storage time points, 267 and 286 differential metabolites were identified in albumen and yolk, respectively. In albumen, deterioration at day 7 was associated with changes in nucleotide- and cofactor-related metabolites, including UMP, adenosine, NAD+, and FAD. By day 21, aggravated albumen deterioration was characterized by glycation- and nitrogen-related metabolites, including N-(1-deoxy-1-fructosyl)phenylalanine, N-(1-deoxy-1-fructosyl)tyrosine, pyroglutamic acid, and cadaverine. In yolk, deterioration at day 21 was mainly associated with lipid oxidation and membrane lipid remodeling, as indicated by changes in arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, 15-oxoETE, D-sphingosine, and sphinganine. These results indicate that albumen and yolk show distinct time-dependent metabolic changes during storage. The representative metabolites identified in this study may serve as candidate indicators for stage-specific evaluation of egg quality deterioration during storage.</p>
Project description:We used a transcriptomic approach based on the comparison of the expression between the liver of sexually mature hens versus pre-laying pullets to better appreciate which hepatic proteases and antiproteases are specifically expressed in relation to vitellogenesis. Using a 20K chicken oligoarray corresponding to 12 595 different chicken genes, a total of 582 genes were shown to be over-expressed in the liver at sexual maturity of hens (1.2 to 67 fold- difference). Most of the top ten over-expressed genes are known components of egg yolk or of the perivitelline membrane. The combination of different bioinformatic tools reveals 12 proteases and 3 antiproteases amongst the over-expressed genes, including many predicted proteins with yet unknown functions.
Project description:Oviparous animals support reproduction via the incorporation of yolk as a nutrient source into the eggs. In Caenorhabditis elegans, however, yolk proteins seem dispensable for fecundity, despite constituting the vast majority of the embryonic protein pool and acting as carriers for nutrient-rich lipids. Here, we used yolk protein-deprived C. elegans mutants to gain insight into the traits that may yet be influenced by yolk rationing. We show that massive yolk provisioning confers a temporal advantage during embryogenesis, while also increasing early juvenile body size and promoting competitive fitness. Opposite to species that reduce egg production under yolk deprivation, our results indicate that C. elegans relies on yolk as a fail-safe to secure offspring survival, rather than to maintain offspring numbers.