Project description:This study identifies key microbiome and epithelial cell subtypes involved in grass digestion and VFA metabolism in the rumen. By integrating multi-omic data, we reveal novel links between microbial activity, epithelial cell function, and grassland foraging, providing critical insights into mechanisms underlying grass prevalence and their implications for optimizing ruminant health and productivity. This research enhances our understanding of the grass-microbiome- rumen axis and its role in sustainable grazing systems.
Project description:By comparing transcriptomes of tolerant and intolerant plants of sickle alfalfa subject to intensive animal grazing, we identified pathways involved in nutrient-responsive signaling, light and wound response, cell wall formation, and energy metabolism. In these pathways, grazing suppressed 39 genes, but less severe in the tolerant plant, and activated 5 genes all carrying polymorphisms in their homologous transcripts between the tolerant and intolerant plants. These genes and pathways - responsive to grazing and differentially expressed between the tolerant and intolerant plants – underline a defense mechanism in alfalfa against grazing stresses.
Project description:To investigate the potential effect of grazing movement on miRNA circulation in cattle, here we profiled miRNA expression in centrifugally prepared exosomes from the plasma of both grazing and housed Japanese Shorthorn cattle. Microarray analysis of the c-miRNAs resulted in detection of a total of 231 bovine exosomal miRNAs in the plasma, with a constant expression level of let-7g across the duration and cattle groups. Expression of muscle-specific miRNAs such as miR-1, miR-133a, miR-206, miR-208a/b, and miR-499 were undetectable, suggesting the mildness of grazing movement as exercise.
Project description:By comparing transcriptomes of tolerant and intolerant plants of sickle alfalfa subject to intensive animal grazing, we identified pathways involved in nutrient-responsive signaling, light and wound response, cell wall formation, and energy metabolism. In these pathways, grazing suppressed 39 genes, but less severe in the tolerant plant, and activated 5 genes all carrying polymorphisms in their homologous transcripts between the tolerant and intolerant plants. These genes and pathways - responsive to grazing and differentially expressed between the tolerant and intolerant plants â?? underline a defense mechanism in alfalfa against grazing stresses. We examined transcriptomes of 3 alfalfa plants: grazing tolerant and grazed, grazing tolerant and not grazed, grazing intolerant and grazed, all at single replicate each.
Project description:To investigate the potential effect of grazing movement on miRNA circulation in cattle, here we profiled miRNA expression in centrifugally prepared exosomes from the plasma of both grazing and housed Japanese Shorthorn cattle. Microarray analysis of the c-miRNAs resulted in detection of a total of 231 bovine exosomal miRNAs in the plasma, with a constant expression level of let-7g across the duration and cattle groups. Expression of muscle-specific miRNAs such as miR-1, miR-133a, miR-206, miR-208a/b, and miR-499 were undetectable, suggesting the mildness of grazing movement as exercise. Changes in miRNA expression in plasma exosome of cattle was measured at during 0, 1, 2 and 4 months of grazing or housing. Plasma exosome samples prepared from three cattle for each treatment were collected and mixed within the treatment at each time for microarray analysis .
Project description:The aim of this study was to elucidate which changes in gene expression are related to the induced anti-herbivory response in the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus. Microarray hybridizations were used to identify genes differentially expressed in response to grazing by the isopod Idotea baltica. This study shows that modifications in gene expression occur simultaneously to a reduced palatability and that defence induction entails reallocation of resources from primary to secondary metabolism with down-regulation of photosynthesis and degradation of storage compounds. Total RNA of Fucus vesiculosus pieces that were or were not previously grazed by Idotea baltica for 15 and 18 days (3 biological replicates each) was hybridized against pooled RNA from 4 F. vesiculosus pieces that were collected before onset of grazing (day 0).
Project description:Neotyphodium coenophialum is an endophytic fungus that infects most tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) pastures that are commonly used in animal grazing systems in the United States. Beef cattle grazing such pastures are impaired in health and production performance, resulting in a large economic loss in US food-animal production systems. Based on clinical and biochemical blood analyte profiles, hepatic targeted gene and protein analyses, and hepatic transcriptomic profiling, microarray analysis using the BovGene-1_0-v1 array (Affymetrix) was conducted to determine if grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures affects pituitary gene expression profiles of growing beef steers. The specific overall hypothesis tested was that grazing high endophyte-infected pasture would alter the pituitary genomic expression profiles of the same growing steers, especially genes involved in production and secretion of prolactin, growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone.
Project description:Aging is associated with declining immunity and inflammation as well as alterations in the gut microbiome with a decrease of beneficial microbes and increase in pathogenic ones. The aim of this study was to investigate aging associated gut microbiome in relation to immunologic and metabolic profile in a non-human primate (NHP) model. 12 old (age>18 years) and 4 young (age 3-6 years) Rhesus macaques were included in this study. Immune cell subsets were characterized in PBMC by flow cytometry and plasma cytokines levels were determined by bead based multiplex cytokine analysis. Stool samples were collected by ileal loop and investigated for microbiome analysis by shotgun metagenomics. Serum, gut microbial lysate and microbe-free fecal extract were subjected to metabolomic analysis by mass-spectrometry. Our results showed that the old animals exhibited higher inflammatory biomarkers in plasma and lower CD4 T cells with altered distribution of naïve and memory T cell maturation subsets. The gut microbiome in old animals had higher abundance of Archaeal and Proteobacterial species and lower Firmicutes than the young. Significant enrichment of metabolites that contribute to inflammatory and cytotoxic pathways was observed in serum and feces of old animals compared to the young. We conclude that aging NHP undergo immunosenescence and age associated alterations in the gut microbiome that has a distinct metabolic profile.
Project description:The aim of this study was to elucidate changes in gene expression related to the induced anti-herbivory response in the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus. Microarray hybridizations were used to identify genes differentially expressed in response to grazing by the periwinkle Littorina obtusata. This study shows that modifications in gene expression occur simultaneously to a reduced palatability and that defence induction entails reallocation of resources from primary to secondary metabolism with down-regulation of photosynthesis. Total RNA of Fucus vesiculosus pieces that were or were not previously grazed by Littorina obtusata for 3, 12, 15, 21, and 24 days (5 biological replicates each) was hybridized against pooled RNA from 5 F. vesiculosus pieces that were collected before onset of grazing (day 0).