Gene ontology analysis of expanded porcine blastocysts from gilts fed organic or inorganic selenium combined with pyridoxine.

Background: Gene ontology analysis using the microarray database generated in a previous study by this laboratory was used to further evaluate how maternal dietary supplementation with pyridoxine combined with different sources of selenium (Se) affected global gene expression of expanded porcine blastocysts. Data were generated from 18 gilts randomly assigned to one of three experimental diets (n = 6 per treatment): i) basal diet without supplemental Se or pyridoxine (CONT); ii) CONT + 0.3 mg/kg of Na-selenite and 10 mg/kg of HCl-pyridoxine (MSeB10); and iii) CONT + 0.3 mg/kg of Se-enriched yeast and 10 mg/kg of HCl-pyridoxine (OSeB10). All gilts were inseminated at their fifth post-pubertal estrus and euthanized 5 days later for embryo harvesting. Differential gene expression between MSeB10 vs CONT, OSeB10 vs CONT and OSeB10 vs MSeB10 was performed using a porcine embryo-specific microarray.

Results: There were 559, 2458, and 1547 differentially expressed genes for MSeB10 vs CONT, OSeB10 vs CONT and OSeB10 vs MSeB10, respectively. MSeB10 vs CONT stimulated 13 biological processes with a strict effect on RNA binding and translation initiation. OSeB10 vs CONT and OSeB10 vs MSeB10 impacted 188 and 66 biological processes, respectively, with very similar effects on genome stability, ceramide biosynthesis, protein trafficking and epigenetic events. The stimulation of genes related with these processes was confirmed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR.

Conclusions: Gene expression of embryos from OSeB10 supplemented gilts was more impacted than those from MSeB10 supplemented gilts. Whereas maternal OSeB10 supplementation influenced crucial aspects of embryo development, maternal MSeB10 supplementation was restricted to binding activity.