Project description:The current situation of rising demand for animal products and sustainable resource usage, improving nutrient utilization efficiency in dairy cows is an important task. Understanding the biology of feed efficiency in dairy cows enables for the development of markers that may be used to identify and choose the best animals for animal production. Thus in this study, ten Holstein cows were evaluated for feed efficiency and adipose tissue samples from five high efficient and five low efficient dairy cows were collected for protein extraction, digestion and data were analyzed for differential abundant proteins enriched in feed efficiency pathways. Among the identified peptides, we found 110 DAPs and two protein networks significantly related to feed efficiency. Among the relative mRNA expression of genes involved in energy metabolism including transcription/translation (STAT2, DDX39A and RBM39) or protein transport (ITGAV), only RBM39 showed significant decrease in high efficient dairy cows. The findings presented here confirmed the Transferrin upregulated in pathways including acute phase response signaling, LXR/RXR activation, FXR/RXR activation of high efficient dairy cows supporting that these pathways are related to feed efficiency in dairy cows.
Project description:In this study, we investigated the molecular regulatory mechanisms of milk protein production in dairy cows by studying the miRNAomes of five key metabolic tissues involved in protein synthesis and metabolism from dairy cows fed high- and low-quality diets. In total, 340, 338, 337, 330, and 328 miRNAs were expressed in the rumen, duodenum, jejunum, liver, and mammary gland tissues, respectively. Some miRNAs were highly correlated with feed and nitrogen efficiency, with target genes involved in transportation and phosphorylation of amino acid (AA). Additionally, low-quality forage diets (corn stover and rice straw) influenced the expression of feed and nitrogen efficiency-associated miRNAs such as miR-99b in rumen, miR-2336 in duodenum, miR-652 in jejunum, miR-1 in liver, and miR-181a in mammary gland. Ruminal miR-21-3p and liver miR-2285f were predicted to regulate AA transportation by targeting ATP1A2 and SLC7A8, respectively. Furthermore, bovine-specific miRNAs regulated the proliferation and morphology of rumen epithelium, as well as the metabolism of liver lipids and branched-chain AAs, revealing bovine-specific mechanisms. Our results suggest that miRNAs expressed in these five tissues play roles in regulating transportation of AA for downstream milk production, which is an important mechanism that may be associated with low milk protein under lowquality forage feed.
Project description:The objective of this study was to characterize the mRNA expression profile in rumen epithelium from Holstein dairy cows fed high or low concentrate dits.
Project description:Analysis of key genes and gene networks determining milk productivity of the dairy HF cows Transcriptomes were compared of in the mammary glands of the healthy lactating Holstein Friesian cows of the high- (average 11097 kg milk/lactation) and low- (average 6956 kg milk/lactation) milk yield.
Project description:The severity of negative energy balance (NEB) in high-producing dairy cows has a high incidence among health diseases. The periparturient period is crucial for the health status and reproductive performance of dairy cows. During this period, dairy cows experience a transition from a pregnant, non-lactating state to a non-pregnant, lactating state. At the beginning of lactation, the energy needs for milk production are higher than the available energy consumed from feed intake, resulting in a negative energy balance (NEB)]. While in a NEB, cows mobilise their reserves from adipose tissue, resulting in elevated plasma concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs), which are used as a fuel source by peripheral tissues and the mammary gland for milk fat synthesis. Thus, white adipose tissue is one of the main tissue involved in the energy production during this transition period. So the objectives of our study were to dentify mRNA differentially expressed in white adipose before and after calving in dairy cow fed with low (LE) and high (HE) energy diet.
Project description:To assess how different levels of stress exposure affect gene regulation mechanisms in cattle, we investigated gene expression in 13 Italian Red Pied dairy cows falling in the high- and low-variant tails of the distribution of milk cortisol concentration (MC), a neuroendocrine biomarker of stress in dairy cows, measured in 126 animals belonging to the same farm in the framework of the Gen2Phen Italian project. The ‘low-’ and ‘high-cortisol’ groups of animals had MC<370 pg/ml and>810 pg/ml, respectively. To date, 13 animals (6 low- and 7 high-MC) have been sequenced. We detected significant fold differences in the expression of 324 genes. KEGG and Gene Ontology (GO) pathway analyses indicated that these genes were mainly involved in immune regulatory pathways, glucocorticoids metabolism and nervous system functions.
Project description:Milk protein is one of the most important economic traits in the dairy industry. Yet, the miRNA gene regulatory network for the synthesis of milk protein in mammary is poorly understood. In this study, the hypothesis was that miRNAs have potential roles in bovine milk protein production. Using miRNA-seq and RNA-seq, we investigated the miRNAs profiles of mammary glands from 12 Chinese Holstein cows with six cows at peak of lactation and six in non-lactating period, from which three cows were in high and three in low milk protein percentage.
Project description:Negative energy balance (NEB) is an altered metabolic state in high yielding cows that occurs during the first few weeks postpartum when energy demands for lactation and maintenance exceed the energy supply from dietary intake. NEB can, in turn, lead to metabolic disorders and to reduced fertility. Alterations in the expression of more than 700 hepatic genes have previously been reported in a study of NEB in postpartum dairy cows. miRNAs (microRNA) are known to mediate many alterations in gene expression post transcriptionally. To study the hepatic miRNA content of postpartum dairy cows, including their overall abundance and differential expression, in mild NEB (MNEB) and severe NEB (SNEB) short read RNA sequencing was carried out.
Project description:This project is meant to document the effect of the negative energetic balance on the embryo quality and as it happens, to identify ways to improve the fertility of dairy bovines. Measurement of the β-Hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) has been taken between 45 and 60 days post-partum on twelve Holstein cows. Cows have been ranked according to the sanguine measurement as high or low in BHB in order to get 6 cows per group. After having synchronized the heat with hormones and an ovarian stimulation, cows have been inseminated and the embryos were selected as so to be transferred in at least two heifers. This project aim at isolating the differences created on the transcriptomic expression in morulas and blastocysts grown in cows with an energetic inbalance.
Project description:Bovine mammary gland provide the largest amount of milk for dairy industry to date. Insight in functional adaptation of this organ is critical in order to improve efficiency of milk synthesis and milk quality. In the present experiment microarray analysis in combination with bioinformatics tools was performed in mammary tissue from 8 Holstein cows during the entire lactation cycle.