Genetic investigations into the use of sensory evaluation: the case of boar taint discrimination in Pietrain sired crossbreds.

Using genetic selection for raising intact boars, which improves growth and feed efficiency, is a promising alternative to castration for mitigating boar taint. Selective breeding has the potential to help to identify and select genetic lines with a reduced risk of boar taint. Common phenotypes are laboratory measurements of skatole (SKA) and androstenone (ANON) i.

L-Carnitine sustainably affects bioenergetic profile of bovine blastocysts and transcriptome profile of elongation-stage embryos.

In Brief: In the present study the sustainable effect of L-carnitine during the culture period on the post-transfer development was investigated. Taken together, we uncovered direct effects of L-carnitine on the bioenergetic profile of day 7 blastocysts along with sustainable effects on mtDNA copy numbers and transcriptome profile of bovine day 14 embryos.

Abstract: L-Carnitine (LC) is known to play key roles in lipid metabolism and antioxidative activity, implicating enhanced cryotolerance of bovine blastocysts.

Sexual dimorphic miRNA-mediated response of bovine elongated embryos to the maternal microenvironment.

A skewed male-to-female ratio in cattle is believed to be due to the biased embryo losses during pregnancy. The changes in biochemical secretion such as miRNAs by the embryo due to altered maternal environment could cause a sex biased selective implantation resulting in a skewed male to female ratio at birth. Nevertheless, it is still not clear whether the male and female embryos could modify their miRNA expression patterns differently in response to altered physiological developmental conditions.

Mitochondrial bioenergetic profiles of warmed bovine blastocysts are typically altered after cryopreservation by slow freezing and vitrification.

The widespread use of cryopreserved in vitro produced (IVP) bovine embryos is limited due to their low post-warming viability compared to their ex vivo derived counterparts. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyse in detail the consequences of cryopreservation (vitrification and slow freezing) on the bioenergetic profile of the embryo and its mitochondria. To accomplish that, day 7 IVP embryos were separated in a non-cryopreserved control group (fresh, n = 120, 12 replicates) or were either slow frozen (slow frozen, n = 60, 6 replicates) or vitrified (vitrified, n = 60, 6 replicates).

Multivariate genome-wide associations for immune traits in two maternal pig lines.

Background: Immune traits are considered to serve as potential biomarkers for pig's health. Medium to high heritabilities have been observed for some of the immune traits suggesting genetic variability of these phenotypes. Consideration of previously established genetic correlations between immune traits can be used to identify pleiotropic genetic markers.

Genetic parameters of immune traits for Landrace and Large White pig breeds.

Improving the immunocompetence towards pathogens represents a desirable objective of breeding strategies to increase resilience. However, the immune system is complex and the genetic foundation of the underlying components is not yet clarified. In the present study, we focused on 22 blood parameters of 1,144 Landrace (LR) and Large White (LW) piglets at the age of 6-7 weeks.

The cell cycle stage of bovine zygotes electroporated with CRISPR/Cas9-RNP affects frequency of Loss-of-heterozygosity editing events.

At the embryonic level, CRISPR technologies have been used to edit genomes reliably and efficiently in various mammalian models, with Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) electroporation potentially representing a superior delivery method into mammalian zygotes. However, detailed insights of the interactions between varying technical settings as well as the time point of electroporation in a bovine zygote's cell cycle on developmental metrics and the frequency and type of editing events are largely unknown. The present study uncovers that increasing pulse lengths result in higher Full Edit rates, with Mosaicism in Full-Edit embryos being significantly affected by adjusting RNP-electroporation relative to zygote cell cycle.

Sulforaphane Enhanced Proliferation of Porcine Satellite Cells via Epigenetic Augmentation of .

Satellite cells take an indispensable place in skeletal muscle regeneration, maintenance, and growth. However, only limited works have investigated effects of dietary compounds on the proliferation of porcine satellite cells (PSCs) and related mechanisms. Sulforaphane (SFN) at multiple levels was applied to PSCs.

Sensitivity of ponies to sodium in the drinking water.

Horses lose high amounts of Na through excessive sweating. These fluid losses can often not be replaced completely by voluntary water intake, requiring saline solutions as rehydration therapy to regain electrolyte balance. The experiment aimed to evaluate the sensitivity and tolerance of Shetland ponies towards different Na concentrations in their drinking water and contained three phases: (1) control: only fresh water provided; (2) pairwise-preference test: choice between fresh water and saline solution with stepwise increasing sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration (0.

Comparison of the choice of animals for re-sequencing in two maternal pig lines.

Next-generation sequencing is a promising approach for the detection of causal variants within previously identified quantitative trait loci. Because of the costs of re-sequencing experiments, this application is currently mainly restricted to subsets of animals from already genotyped populations. Imputation from a lower to a higher marker density could represent a useful complementary approach.

Genome-wide associations for immune traits in two maternal pig lines.

Background: In recent years, animal welfare and health has become more and more important in pig breeding. So far, numerous parameters have been considered as important biomarkers, especially in the immune reaction and inflammation. Previous studies have shown moderate to high heritabilities in most of these traits.

The global gene expression outline of the bovine blastocyst: reflector of environmental conditions and predictor of developmental capacity.

Background: Morphological evaluation of embryos has been used to screen embryos for transfer. However, the repeatability and accuracy of this method remains low. Thus, evaluation of an embryo's gene expression signature with respect to its developmental capacity could provide new opportunities for embryo selection.

NRF2-mediated signaling is a master regulator of transcription factors in bovine granulosa cells under oxidative stress condition.

Transcription factors (TFs) are known to be involved in regulating the expression of several classes of genes during folliculogenesis. However, the regulatory role of TFs during oxidative stress (OS) is not fully understood. The current study was aimed to investigate the regulation of the TFs in bovine granulosa cells (bGCs) during exposure to OS induced by HO in vitro.

Genomic background and genetic relationships between boar taint and fertility traits in German Landrace and Large White.

Background: Due to ethical reasons, surgical castration of young male piglets in their first week of life without anesthesia will be banned in Germany from 2021. Breeding against boar taint is already implemented in sire breeds of breeding organizations but in recent years a low demand made this trait economically less important. The objective of this study was to estimate heritabilities and genetic relationships between boar taint compounds androstenone and skatole and maternal/paternal reproduction traits in 4'924 Landrace (LR) and 4'299 Large White (LW) animals from nucleus populations.

Regulation of Nrf2 and NF-κB during lead toxicity in bovine granulosa cells.

Lead (Pb), one of the pervasive and protracted environmental heavy metals, is believed to affect the female reproductive system in many species. The Nrf2 and NF-κB are the two key transcriptional factors regulating cellular redox status and response against stress and inflammation respectively, showing an interaction between each other. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Pb on bovine granulosa cells (GCs) and its association with the regulation of Nrf2 and NF-κB pathways.

The Role of MicroRNAs in Mammalian Fertility: From Gametogenesis to Embryo Implantation.

The genetic codes inscribed during two key developmental processes, namely gametogenesis and embryogenesis, are believed to determine subsequent development and survival of adult life. Once the embryo is formed, its further development mainly depends on its intrinsic characteristics, maternal environment (the endometrial receptivity), and the embryo-maternal interactions established during each phase of development. These developmental processes are under strict genetic regulation that could be manifested temporally and spatially depending on the physiological and developmental status of the cell.

Hyaluronic acid and epidermal growth factor improved the bovine embryo quality by regulating the DNA methylation and expression patterns of the focal adhesion pathway.

Focal adhesion pathway is one of the key molecular pathways affected by suboptimal culture conditions during embryonic development. The epidermal growth factor (EGF) and hyaluronic acid (HA) are believed to be involved in the focal adhesion pathway function by regulating the adherence of the molecules to the extracellular matrix. However, regulatory and molecular mechanisms through which the EGF and HA could influence the embryo development is not clear.

PBMCs transcriptome profiles identified breed-specific transcriptome signatures for PRRSV vaccination in German Landrace and Pietrain pigs.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a devastating viral disease affecting the swine industry worldwide. Genetic variation in host immunity has been considered as one of the potential determinants to improve the immunocompetence, thereby resistance to PRRS. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the breed difference in innate immune response to PRRSV vaccination between German Landrace (DL) and Pietrain (Pi) pigs.

Extracellular vesicle-coupled miRNA profiles in follicular fluid of cows with divergent post-calving metabolic status.

Most high-yielding dairy cows enter a state of negative energy balance (NEB) during early lactation. This, in turn, results in changes in the level of various metabolites in the blood and follicular fluid microenvironment which contributes to disturbed fertility. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are evolutionarily conserved communicasomes that transport cargo of miRNA, proteins and lipids.

Endogenous and Exogenous Modulation of Nrf2 Mediated Oxidative Stress Response in Bovine Granulosa Cells: Potential Implication for Ovarian Function.

Nrf2 is a redox sensitive transcription factor regulating the expression of antioxidant genes as defense mechanism against various stressors. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential role of noncoding miRNAs as endogenous and quercetin as exogenous regulators of Nrf2 pathway in bovine granulosa cells. For this cultured granulosa cells were used for modulation of miRNAs (miR-28, 153 and miR-708) targeting the bovine Nrf2 and supplementation of quercentin to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of the Nrf2 antioxidant system.