GSE62938
Maternal nutrition induces gene expression changes in fetal muscle and adipose tissues in sheep
Maternal nutrition during different stages of pregnancy can induce significant changes in the structure, physiology, and metabolism of the offspring. These changes could have important implications on food animal production especially if these perturbations impact muscle and adipose tissue development. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different maternal diets on the transcriptome of fetal tissues in sheep. Ewes were bred to a single sire and from days 67 ± 3 of gestation until necropsy (days 130 ± 1), they were fed one of three isoenergetic diets: alfalfa haylage (H; fiber), corn (C; starch), or dried corn distillers grains (D; fiber plus protein plus fat). Longissimus dorsi (M), subcutaneous adipose depot (S), and perirenal adipose depot (R) tissues from individual fetuses were pooled and then analyzed by RNA sequencing. Overall design: A total of 26 fetuses were removed from 15 dams. From the fetuses three different tissues were collected including one muscle, longissimus dorsi muscle (M), and two adipose tissues, perirenal adipose depot (R) and subcutaneous adipose depot (S). The RNA samples from the 26 fetuses were pooled to generate four biological replicates per maternal diet and tissue. In particular, per each diet and tissue, two RNA pools were created from male fetuses and two RNA pools were created from female fetuses. Overall, a total of 36 pools (i.e., 12 pools per tissue, 3 tissues in total) underwent RNA extraction, library generation, and subsequent sequencing.