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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Poisonous Plant Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #388805
Research Project: Understanding and Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Poisonous Plants on Livestock Production Systems

Location: Poisonous Plant Research

Title: Supranutritional maternal organic selenium supplementation during different trimesters of pregnancy affects the muscle gene transcriptome of newborn beef calves in a time-dependent manner

Author
item DINIZ, WELLISON - Auburn University
item GERD, BOBE - Oregon State University
item KLOPFENSTEIN, JOSEPH - Oregon State University
item GULTEKIN, YUNUS - Oregon State University
item Davis, Thomas - Zane
item WARD, ALISON - North Dakota State University
item HALL, JEAN - Oregon State University

Submitted to: Genes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/23/2021
Publication Date: 11/25/2021
Citation: Diniz, W.J., Gerd, B., Klopfenstein, J.J., Gultekin, Y., Davis, T.Z., Ward, A.K., Hall, J.A. 2021. Supranutritional maternal organic selenium supplementation during different trimesters of pregnancy affects the muscle gene transcriptome of newborn beef calves in a time-dependent manner. Genes. 12(12). Article 1884. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12121884.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12121884

Interpretive Summary: Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient that exerts its functions by incorporating selenocysteine into various selenoproteins. Additionally, Se content modulates metabolic functions through transcriptome and epigenome regulation. Metabolic functions underlying selenoproteins or Se-regulated genes include thyroid hormone synthesis, antioxidant homeostasis, and endocrine regulation of energy metabolism. Because Se is essential and feedstuffs often have low Se content, farmed animals are typically Se-supplemented. Whereas Se deficiency has been associated with myopathies, such as nutritional myodegeneration (white muscle disease) and nutritional muscular dystrophy, Se supplementation also induces metabolic changes linked to insulin resistance,muscle physiology, and energy homeostasis. Our findings suggest that supranutritional maternal Se supplementation plays a pivotal role in programming muscle gene expression. Additionally, Se differentially modulates offsprings’ muscle gene expression according to the trimester of pregnancy. The results suggested a beneficial effect of Se on the last third of gestation as the myogenic factors were upregulated. However, further investigation is still needed to confirm this finding and the long-term consequences on offspring muscle development and metabolic profile.

Technical Abstract: Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for growth and immune function in beef cattle.We previously showed that supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation during late pregnancy improves immune function in their newborn calves; however, the effects of maternal organic Se-supplementation on fetal programming during different pregnancy stages have yet to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the effects of supranutritional maternal organic Se-supplementation in different pregnancy trimesters on their beef calf’s genome-wide transcriptome profiles. Within 12 to 48 h of birth, whole blood and Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle biopsies were collected from calves born to 40 crossbred Angus cows that received, except for the control group (CTR), Se-yeast boluses (105 mg of Se/wk) during the first (TR1), second (TR2), or third (TR3) trimester of gestation. Whole-blood Se concentrations of newborn calves increased from CTR, TR1, TR2 to TR3, whereas muscle Se concentrations of newborn calves were only increased in TR3 group. We identified 3048 unique differentially expressed genes(DEGs) across all group comparisons (FDR = 0.05 and |log2FC| = 1.5). Furthermore, we predicted 237 unique transcription factors that putatively regulate the DEGs. Independent of supplementation trimester, supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation downregulated genes involved in adaptive immunity in all trimesters. Dependent on supplementation trimester, genes involved in muscle development were upregulated by TR3 Se supplementation and downregulated by TR1 Se-supplementation, and genes involved in collagen formation were downregulated by TR2 Se-supplementation. Supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation in the last trimester of pregnancy resulted in upregulation of myosin and actin filament associated genes, potentially allowing for optimal muscle function and contraction. Our findings suggest a beneficial effect of supranutritional maternal organic Se supplementation during late gestation on Se-status and muscle development and function of newborn calves.