title: Folate deficiency during early-mid pregnancy affects the skeletal muscle transcriptome of piglets from a reciprocal cross.
abstract: Folate deficiency (FD) during pregnancy can cause fetal intrauterine growth restriction in pigs, of which the skeletal dysplasia is a major manifestation. Factors influencing muscle development are very important in the formation of porcine meat quality trait. However, the effect of folate deficiency on skeletal muscle development and its molecular mechanisms are unknown. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of maternal folate deficiency on the skeletal muscle transcriptome of piglets from a reciprocal cross, in which full-sibling Landrace (LR) and full-sibling Chinese local breed Laiwu (LW) pigs were used for reciprocal cross matings, and sows were fed either a folate deficient or a normal diet during early-mid gestation. In addition, the difference in the responsiveness of the piglets to folate deficiency during early-mid pregnancy between reciprocal cross groups was investigated. Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle samples were collected from newborn piglets and a 4 × 44K Agilent porcine oligo microarray was used for transcriptome analysis of porcine LD muscle. The results showed that folate deficiency during early-mid pregnancy affected piglet body weight, LD muscle fiber number and content of intramuscular triglyceride. The microarray results indicated that 3154 genes were differentially expressed between folate deficient and normal piglets from the LR♂ × LW♀ cross, and 3885 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the ones from the LW♂ × LR♀ cross. From functional analyses, sow folate deficiency affected almost all biological processes in the progeny. Lipid metabolism-related genes and associated metabolic pathways were regulated extensively by folate deficiency, especially in LR♂ × LW♀ cross piglets. Most of the genes that are regulated by folate deficiency in the LD muscle of piglets were different between LR♂ × LW♀ and LW♂ × LR♀ crosses, suggesting some epigenetic effects of FD exist in genes underlying myogenesis and intramuscular fat deposition in piglets.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China ; The Central Hospital of Taian, Taian, China ; Taian Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laiwu Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Laiwu, China.
authors.forename: Yanxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: The Central Hospital of Taian, Taian, China ; Taian Hospital Affiliated to Taishan Medical University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Guanglei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Xinxing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Molecular Genetics, College of Animal Science, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China.
authors.forename: Yunliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001947:Breeding; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013552:Swine; D059467:Transcriptome