Maternal consumption of organic trace minerals alters calf systemic and neutrophil mRNA and microRNA indicators of inflammation and oxidative stress

Organic trace mineral (ORG) supplementation to dairy cows in substitution of sulfate (INO) sources has been associated with improvement in immune function during stressful states such as the peripartal period. However, the effect of supplemental ORG during pregnancy on the neonatal calf is unknown. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the effects of ORG supplementation during late pregnancy on the immune system and growth of the neonatal calf. Of specific interest was the evaluation of inflammation-related microRNA (miRNA) and target gene expression in blood neutrophils as indicators of possible nutritional programming. Forty multiparous cows were supplemented for 30 d prepartum with 40 mg/kg of Zn, 20 mg/kg of Mn, 5 mg/kg of Cu, and 1 mg/kg of Co from either organic (ORG) or sulfate (INO) sources (total diet contained supplemental 75 mg/kg of Zn, 65 mg/kg of Mn, 11 mg/kg of Cu, and 1 mg/kg of Co, and additional Zn, Mn, and Co provided by sulfates), and a subset of calves (n = 8/treatment) was used for blood immunometabolic marker and polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) gene and miRNA expression analyses. Samples were collected at birth (before colostrum feeding), 1 d (24 h after colostrum intake), and 7 and 21 d of age. Data were analyzed as a factorial design with the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS. No differences were detected in BW, but maternal ORG tended to increase calf withers height. Calves from INO-fed cows had greater concentrations of blood glucose, GOT, paraoxonase, myeloperoxidase, and reactive oxygen metabolites. Antioxidant capacity also was greater in INO calves. The PMNL expression of toll-like receptor pathway genes indicated a pro-inflammatory state in INO calves, with greater expression of the inflammatory mediators MYD88, IRAK1, TRAF6, NFKB, and NFKBIA. The lower expression of miR-155 and miR-125b in ORG calves indicated the potential for maternal organic trace minerals in regulating the PMNL inflammatory response at least via alterations in mRNA and miRNA expression. Overall, these results indicate that maternal nutrition with organic trace minerals could alter the neonatal innate immune response at least in part via changes in gene and miRNA expression. Further studies involving inflammatory challenges during the neonatal period should be performed to determine the functional benefit of maternal organic trace minerals on the neonatal immune response

Stress and inflammatory gene networks in bovine liver are altered by plane of dietary energy during late pregnancy

The prepartal dietary energy level is tightly correlated with the degree of tissue mobilization that the animal experiences around parturition (giving birth). To better understand the link between the dry period dietary energy management and the inflammatory status around parturition, 12 multiparous Holstein cows were fed for the entire dry period either a high-wheat straw/lower-energy diet to supply at least 100 % of the calculated net energy for lactation (NEL) (control, CON) or a higher-energy diet to supply >140 % of NEL (overfed, OVE). The blood was sampled throughout the transition period for biomarker analyses. Liver tissue samples were taken on days 1214, 7, 14, and 30 relative to parturition for triacylglycerol (TAG) composition and gene expression analysis. Fifty genes involved in inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and oxidative stress, and cell cycle and growth were evaluated. Although blood biomarkers did not reveal signs of a greater inflammatory status compared with OVE, CON cows had a greater activation of the intrahepatic unfolded protein response prepartum. However, postpartum mRNA profiling indicated that the OVE group experienced a mild but sustained level of ER stress, with higher oxidative stress and impairment of antioxidant mechanisms. After parturition, inflammation-related genes were upregulated in OVE cows compared with CON. However, CON cows experienced a gradual increase in expression of key inflammatory transcription regulators up to 30 days postpartum which agreed with the lower plasma albumin and cholesterol, suggesting an inflammatory state. Data underscored that ER stress is not necessarily linked with inflammation during the peripartal period. Gene expression data also suggest that prepartum overnutrition could have negative effects on normal cell cycle activity. Overall, allowing cows to overconsume energy prepartum increased the hepatic pro-inflammatory response prepartum and up to the point of parturition. Subsequently, cows fed the lower-energy diet experienced a gradual increase in the inflammatory response. The lack of differences between groups in voluntary feed intake and lactation capacity suggests that nutritional management prepartum triggers different mechanisms that affect ER and oxidative stress along with inflammation. Although no clinical disorders were detected, these alterations expose animals to the development of immuno-metabolic disorders

Maternal supply of methionine during late-pregnancy enhances rate of Holstein calf development in utero and postnatal growth to a greater extent than colostrum source

BackgroundPregnancy and early life are critical periods of plasticity during which the fetus and neonate may be influenced by environmental factors such as nutrition. Maternal methionine (Met) supply in non-ruminants during pregnancy can affect offspring development and growth. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate if increasing Met supply during late-pregnancy affects developmental parameters of the calf at birth and if either maternal Met or colostrum from Met-fed cows alters calf growth. Calves born to Holstein cows individually-fed a basal control [CON; 1.47 Mcal/kg dry matter (DM) and 15.3% crude protein] diet with no added Met or CON plus ethylcellulose rumen-protected Met (MET; Mepron (R) at 0.09% of diet DM; Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH, Germany) during the last 282 d of pregnancy were used. A total of 39 calves were in CON (n=22 bulls, 17 heifers) and 42 in MET (n=20 bulls, 22 heifers). At birth, calves were randomly allocated considering dam treatment and colostrum as follows: 1) calves from CON cows and colostrum from CON cows (n=21); 2) calves from CON cows and colostrum from MET cows (n=18); 3) calves from MET cows and colostrum from MET cows (n=22); and 4) calves from MET cows and colostrum from CON cows (n=20). All calves were housed, managed, and fed individually during the first 9 wk of life.ResultsDespite greater daily DM intake pre-partum in cows fed MET (15.7 vs. 14.4 +/- 0.12kg/d, P0.05) due to maternal Met supply or colostrum source. However, fecal scores tended to be lower (P0.10) in MET calves regardless of colostrum source.Conclusions Increasing the maternal supply of MET during late-pregnancy enhanced growth in utero as well as during the pre-weaning and early post-weaning periods. Although the similar to 1kg/d greater DM intake during the last 2-3 wk prior to parturition could explain a portion of the 2kg extra body mass of MET calves at birth, other mechanisms potentially encompassing nutrient assimilation efficiency likely played a role. Assessing the exact mechanisms sensitive to supply of Met or total amino acid supply during the latter stages of growth in utero merit further research

Large-scale SNP discovery and construction of a high-density genetic map of Colossoma macropomum through genotyping-by-sequencing

Colossoma macropomum, or tambaqui, is the largest native Characiform species found in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, yet few resources for genetic studies and the genetic improvement of tambaqui exist. In this study, we identified a large number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for tambaqui and constructed a high-resolution genetic linkage map from a full-sib family of 124 individuals and their parents using the genotyping by sequencing method. In all, 68,584 SNPs were initially identified using minimum minor allele frequency (MAF) of 5%. Filtering parameters were used to select high-quality markers for linkage analysis. We selected 7,734 SNPs for linkage mapping, resulting in 27 linkage groups with a minimum logarithm of odds (LOD) of 8 and maximum recombination fraction of 0.35. The final genetic map contains 7,192 successfully mapped markers that span a total of 2,811 cM, with an average marker interval of 0.39 cM. Comparative genomic analysis between tambaqui and zebrafish revealed variable levels of genomic conservation across the 27 linkage groups which allowed for functional SNP annotations. The large-scale SNP discovery obtained here, allowed us to build a high-density linkage map in tambaqui, which will be useful to enhance genetic studies that can be applied in breeding programs