title: Multi-tissue omics analyses reveal molecular regulatory networks for puberty in composite beef cattle.
abstract: Puberty is a complex physiological event by which animals mature into an adult capable of sexual reproduction. In order to enhance our understanding of the genes and regulatory pathways and networks involved in puberty, we characterized the transcriptome of five reproductive tissues (i.e. hypothalamus, pituitary gland, ovary, uterus, and endometrium) as well as tissues known to be relevant to growth and metabolism needed to achieve puberty (i.e., longissimus dorsi muscle, adipose, and liver). These tissues were collected from pre- and post-pubertal Brangus heifers (3/8 Brahman; Bos indicus x 5/8 Angus; Bos taurus) derived from a population of cattle used to identify quantitative trait loci associated with fertility traits (i.e., age of first observed corpus luteum (ACL), first service conception (FSC), and heifer pregnancy (HPG)). In order to exploit the power of complementary omics analyses, pre- and post-puberty co-expression gene networks were constructed by combining the results from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), RNA-Seq, and bovine transcription factors. Eight tissues among pre-pubertal and post-pubertal Brangus heifers revealed 1,515 differentially expressed and 943 tissue-specific genes within the 17,832 genes confirmed by RNA-Seq analysis. The hypothalamus experienced the most notable up-regulation of genes via puberty (i.e., 204 out of 275 genes). Combining the results of GWAS and RNA-Seq, we identified 25 loci containing a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with ACL, FSC, and (or) HPG. Seventeen of these SNP were within a gene and 13 of the genes were expressed in uterus or endometrium. Multi-tissue omics analyses revealed 2,450 co-expressed genes relative to puberty. The pre-pubertal network had 372,861 connections whereas the post-pubertal network had 328,357 connections. A sub-network from this process revealed key transcriptional regulators (i.e., PITX2, FOXA1, DACH2, PROP1, SIX6, etc.). Results from these multi-tissue omics analyses improve understanding of the number of genes and their complex interactions for puberty in cattle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cánovas
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Food Futures Flagship and Division of Animal, Food and Health Sciences, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reverter
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kasey L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: DeAtley
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ryan L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Food Futures Flagship and Division of Animal, Food and Health Sciences, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Colgrave
authors.affiliation: Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Marina R S
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fortes
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Alma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Islas-Trejo
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Food Futures Flagship and Division of Animal, Food and Health Sciences, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lehnert
authors.affiliation: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Food Futures Flagship and Division of Animal, Food and Health Sciences, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Laercio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Porto-Neto
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rincón
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gail A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Silver
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska, United States of America.
authors.forename: Warren M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Snelling
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Medrano
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.
authors.forename: Milton G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D059467:Transcriptome