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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #377667
Research Project: Improving Feed Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability of Dairy Cattle through Genomics and Novel Technologies

Location: Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory

Title: Transcriptional reprogramming in rumen epithelium during the developmental transition of pre-ruminant to the ruminant in cattle

Author
item Baldwin, Ransom - Randy
item LIU, MEI - Hunan Agricultural University
item CONNOR, ERIN - University Of Delaware
item Ramsay, Timothy
item Liu, Ge - George
item Li, Congjun - Cj

Submitted to: Animals
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/28/2021
Publication Date: 9/30/2021
Citation: Baldwin, R.L., Liu, M., Connor, E.E., Ramsay, T.G., Liu, G., Li, C. 2021. Transcriptional reprogramming in rumen epithelium during the developmental transition of pre-ruminant to the ruminant in cattle. Animals. 11(10):2870. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11102870.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11102870

Interpretive Summary: The rumen is a critical organ mediating nutrient uptake and use in cattle. Health development is essential to ensure animal feed efficiency. In this work we present an analysis of transcriptomic dynamics in rumen epithelium during the transition from pre-ruminant to ruminant in cattle fed hay or concentrated diets at weaning. Transcriptional reprogramming in rumen epithelial tissue reflects critical nutrient-gene interactions occurring during the developmental progression.

Technical Abstract: The rumen is a critical organ mediating nutrient uptake and use in cattle. Healthy rumen development is essential to ensure animal feed efficiency. In this work, we present an analysis of transcriptomic dynamics in rumen epithelium during the transition from pre-rumination to rumination in cattle fed hay or concentrated diets at weaning. These two distinct phases of rumen development and function in cattle are tightly regulated by a series of signaling events and clusters of effectors on key pathways. Our analysis identifies putative signaling events and effectors. Gene activity shifts indicated the transcriptomic reprogramming required to induce developmental changes in ruminal epithelium and functional transitions. A principal component analysis distinguished the temporal expression patterns that clustered separately between pre- and post-weaning groups. A GO-term enrichment analysis reflected functional (physical and metabolic) development of ruminal epithelium and revealed the greatest number of DEGs were enriched in biological processes related to energy metabolism. Canonical pathway and upstream regulator analyses revealed transcription reprogramming with clusters of critical pathways and upstream regulators controlling functional and developmental transitions with no significant differences between hay- and concentrate-fed groups at weaning. The most highly activated transcription factors expressed during the weaning transition were PPARGC1A, INSR, NFE2L2, MYC, MYCN, and PPARA. Overall, the dietary shift from liquid to solid feeds prompted transcriptional reprogramming in rumen epithelial tissue reflecting critical nutrient-gene interactions occurring during the developmental progression of ruminant digestion.