Effects of maternal gestational diet, with or without methionine, on muscle transcriptome of Bos indicus-influenced beef calves following a vaccine-induced immunological challenge

Abstract

Maternal nutrition during gestation can cause epigenetic effects that translate to alterations in gene expression in offspring. This 2-year study employed RNA-sequencing technology to evaluate the pre- and post-vaccination muscle transcriptome of early-weaned Bos indicus-influenced beef calves born from dams offered different supplementation strategies from 57 ± 5 d prepartum until 17 ± 5 d postpartum. Seventy-two Brangus heifers (36 heifers/yr) were stratified by body weight and body condition score and assigned to bahiagrass pastures (3 heifers/pasture/yr). Treatments were randomly assigned to pastures and consisted of (i) no pre- or postpartum supplementation (NOSUP), (ii) pre- and postpartum supplementation of protein and energy using 7.2 kg of dry matter/heifer/wk of molasses + urea (MOL), or (iii) MOL fortified with 105 g/heifer/wk of methionine hydroxy analog (MOLMET). Calves were weaned on d 147 of the study. On d 154, 24 calves/yr (8 calves/treatment) were randomly selected and individually limit-fed a high-concentrate diet until d 201. Calves were vaccinated on d 160. Muscle biopsies were collected from the same calves (4 calves/treatment/day/yr) on d 154 (pre-vaccination) and 201 (post-vaccination) for gene expression analysis using RNA sequencing. Molasses maternal supplementation led to a downregulation of genes associated with muscle cell differentiation and development along with intracellular signaling pathways (e.g., Wnt and TGF-β signaling pathway) compared to no maternal supplementation. Maternal fortification with methionine altered functional gene-sets involved in amino acid transport and metabolism and the one-carbon cycle. In addition, muscle transcriptome was impacted by vaccination with a total of 2,396 differentially expressed genes (FDR ≤ 0.05) on d 201 vs. d 154. Genes involved in cell cycle progression, extracellular matrix, and collagen formation were upregulated after vaccination. This study demonstrated that maternal supplementation of energy and protein, with or without, methionine has long-term implications on the muscle transcriptome of offspring and potentially influence postnatal muscle development.

Improving Beef Progeny Performance Through Developmental Programming

“…Maternal supplementation of methionine during the third trimester of gestation altered calf muscle transcriptome (Palmer et al, 2021) but did not impact offspring pre-and post-weaning growth (Clements et al, 2017;Moriel et al, 2020a;Palmer et al, 2020) or post-vaccination measurements of innate and humoral immune functions (Moriel et al, 2020a) compared to supplementation without methionine inclusion. Muscle protein deposition in growing calves does not increase once amino acid supply exceed requirements (Froidmont et al, 2000).…”

“…The periconceptional period is a critical time for the fetus in which placental development and fetal organogenesis occur (Caton et al, 2020). Methyl donors, such as methionine, are crucial for early embryonic development by regulating the synthesis of free radicals and transcriptome (Palmer et al, 2021) via DNA methylation or histone modifications (Crouse et al, 2020). Metabolizable methionine supplementation to lactating beef cows during a 115-day periconception period altered muscle transcriptome (Palmer et al, 2021) and methylome of calves (Liu et al, 2020), programming their postnatal performance (Silva et al, 2021).…”

“…Methyl donors, such as methionine, are crucial for early embryonic development by regulating the synthesis of free radicals and transcriptome (Palmer et al, 2021) via DNA methylation or histone modifications (Crouse et al, 2020). Metabolizable methionine supplementation to lactating beef cows during a 115-day periconception period altered muscle transcriptome (Palmer et al, 2021) and methylome of calves (Liu et al, 2020), programming their postnatal performance (Silva et al, 2021). Cows offered supplemental methionine tended to produce more energy-corrected milk without increasing calf 205day adjusted weaning BW than a control supplement without methionine inclusion (Silva et al, 2021).…”

“…Epigenetic analyses have grown steadily in recent years, but currently, transcriptomics of multiple tissues has been the primary analytical procedure in many beef studies exploring maternal nutritional management during early (Crouse et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2020;Diniz et al, 2021a) and late gestation (Sanglard et al, 2018). For example, maternal energy restriction during early- (Diniz et al, 2021a) and late-gestation (Sanglard et al, 2018;Palmer et al, 2021) altered the transcriptome of numerous nutrient-sensing pathways involved in muscle tissue development and energy metabolism, suggesting a reprogramming of genes in order to adapt the fetus to the altered maternal nutrient availability.…”

Immunometabolism in livestock: triggers and physiological role of transcription regulators, nutrients, and microbiota

“…However, methionine calves were born with a unique hindgut microbiota profile that persisted through the post-weaning period ( Elolimy et al, 2019 ) along with better innate immune responsiveness ( Alharthi et al, 2019 ). The fact that enhancing maternal methionine supply (via hydroxy analog) during the last ~60 d through ~17 d around parturition had minor effects on immunometabolic networks in beef calf skeletal muscle after vaccination at ~150 d of age ( Palmer et al, 2021 ) suggest that muscle tissue might not be as responsive as the liver. The type of dietary source of methionine (rumen-protected vs. hydroxyl analog) also could play a role, i.e., methionine hydroxyl analog is more susceptible to ruminal degradation.…”