Transcriptomic impacts of rumen epithelium induced by butyrate infusion in dairy cattle in dry period

Authors: Baldwin, Ransom - Randy; Li, Robert; JIA, YANKAI - Johns Hopkins University; Li, Congjun - Cj

Submitted to: Gene Regulation and Systems Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/9/2018
Publication Date: 5/10/2018
Citation: Baldwin, R.L., Li, R.W., Jia, Y., Li, C. 2018. Transcriptomic impacts of rumen epithelium induced by butyrate infusion in dairy cattle in dry period. Gene Regulation and Systems Biology. 12:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177625018774798.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1177625018774798

Interpretive Summary: The dry period is considered the cow's resting period and is commonly set 6 to 8 weeks before calving. Proper management and nutrition of the dry cow are critical for obtaining maximum dry matter intake, good health, increased reproduction efficiency, and optimum milk production in the following lactation. Butyrate is an essential nutrition element for cattle. In this report, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technique was used to profile the whole genomic activities of rumen epithelium of cattle in the dry period and the temporal impact of butyrate infusion at the level of the whole genome activities. Our results underlie the potential mechanisms of butyrate-induced gene expression regulation in rumen epithelium. The nutrigenomics approach may eventually lead to more precise management of utilization of feed resources in a more effective approach.

Technical Abstract: Transcriptomics and bioinformatics are utilized to accelerate our understanding of regulation in rumen epithelial transcriptome of cattle in the dry period induced by butyrate infusion. Butyrate, as an essential element of nutrients, is an HDAC inhibitor that can alter histone acetylation and methylation and plays a prominent role in regulating genomic activities influencing rumen nutrition utilization and function. In comparison to pre-infusion at 0 h, a total of 3513 genes were identified to be impacted in the rumen epithelium by butyrate infusion at least once at the different sampling time points at a stringent cutoff of FDR < 0.01. Temporal effects induced by butyrate infusion indicate that the transcriptomic alterations are very dynamic. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that in the early stage of rumen butyrate infusion (on day 1 and day 3 of butyrate infusion), the transcriptomics effects in the rumen epithelium were involved with mitotic cell cycle process, cell cycle process, and regulation of cell cycle. Bioinformatic analysis of cellular functions, canonical pathways and upstream regulator of impacted genes underlie the potential mechanisms of butyrate-induced gene expression regulation in rumen epithelium. The introduction of transcriptomic and bioinformatic technologies to study nutrigenomics in the farm animal presented the new prospect to study multiple levels of biological information to better apprehend the whole animal response to nutrition, physiological state, and their interactions. The nutrigenomics approach may eventually lead to more precise management of utilization of feed resources in a more effective approach.