TY - JOUR
T1 - Genome-Wide DNA Methylation and Gene Expression Profiles in Cows Subjected to Different Stress Level as Assessed by Cortisol in Milk
AU - Del Corvo, Marcello
AU - Bongiorni, Silvia
AU - Stefanon, Bruno
AU - Sgorlon, Sandy
AU - Valentini, Alessio
AU - Ajmone Marsan, Paolo
AU - Chillemi, Giovanni
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Dairy cattle health, wellbeing and productivity are deeply affected by stress. Its influence on metabolism and immune response is well known, but the underlying epigenetic mechanisms require further investigation. In this study, we compared DNA methylation and gene expression signatures between two dairy cattle populations falling in the high- and low-variant tails of the distribution of milk cortisol concentration (MC), a neuroendocrine marker of stress in dairy cows. Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing was used to obtain a methylation map from blood samples of these animals. The high and low groups exhibited similar amounts of methylated CpGs, while we found differences among non-CpG sites. Significant methylation changes were detected in 248 genes. We also identified significant fold differences in the expression of 324 genes. KEGG and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that genes of both groups act together in several pathways, such as nervous system activity, immune regulatory functions and glucocorticoid metabolism. These preliminary results suggest that, in livestock, cortisol secretion could act as a trigger for epigenetic regulation and that peripheral changes in methylation can provide an insight into central nervous system functions.
AB - Dairy cattle health, wellbeing and productivity are deeply affected by stress. Its influence on metabolism and immune response is well known, but the underlying epigenetic mechanisms require further investigation. In this study, we compared DNA methylation and gene expression signatures between two dairy cattle populations falling in the high- and low-variant tails of the distribution of milk cortisol concentration (MC), a neuroendocrine marker of stress in dairy cows. Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing was used to obtain a methylation map from blood samples of these animals. The high and low groups exhibited similar amounts of methylated CpGs, while we found differences among non-CpG sites. Significant methylation changes were detected in 248 genes. We also identified significant fold differences in the expression of 324 genes. KEGG and Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that genes of both groups act together in several pathways, such as nervous system activity, immune regulatory functions and glucocorticoid metabolism. These preliminary results suggest that, in livestock, cortisol secretion could act as a trigger for epigenetic regulation and that peripheral changes in methylation can provide an insight into central nervous system functions.
KW - DNA methylation
KW - bisulfite sequencing
KW - cortisol secretion
KW - dairy cattle health
KW - gene expression
KW - DNA methylation
KW - bisulfite sequencing
KW - cortisol secretion
KW - dairy cattle health
KW - gene expression
UR - https://publicatt.unicatt.it/handle/10807/167136
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85090613210&origin=inward
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85090613210&origin=inward
U2 - 10.3390/genes11080850
DO - 10.3390/genes11080850
M3 - Article
SN - 2073-4425
VL - 11
SP - N/A-N/A
JO - Genes
JF - Genes
IS - 8
ER -