Transcriptome analysis revealed that delaying first colostrum feeding postponed ileum immune system development of neonatal calves

Yang Song; Huizeng Sun; Zhixiong He; Amanda Fischer-Tlustos; Tao Ma; Michael Steele; Le Luo Guan

doi:10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.10.011

Transcriptome analysis revealed that delaying first colostrum feeding postponed ileum immune system development of neonatal calves

Genomics. 2021 Nov;113(6):4116-4125. doi: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.10.011. Epub 2021 Oct 29.

Authors

Yang Song¹, Huizeng Sun², Zhixiong He³, Amanda Fischer-Tlustos⁴, Tao Ma⁵, Michael Steele⁶, Le Luo Guan⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Animal Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, Tongliao 028000, China; Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada; Brucellosis Prevention and Treatment Engineering Research Center of Inner Mongolia Autonomous region, Tongliao, China, 028000.
² Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada; Institute of Dairy Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
³ Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada; Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125, China.
⁴ Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 1W1, Canada.
⁵ Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China.
⁶ Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 1W1, Canada. Electronic address: masteele@uoguelph.ca.
⁷ Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada. Electronic address: lguan@ualberta.ca.

PMID: 34743958
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.10.011

Abstract

Our objective was to evaluate the effect of colostrum feeding times on genome-wide gene expression of neonatal calves. In total, twenty-seven calves were assigned to three colostrum feeding treatments: within 45 min (TRT0h, n = 9), 6 h (TRT6h, n = 9) and 12 h (TRT12h, n = 9). Ileum tissues were collected at 51 h and transcriptomic analysis was conducted. Uniquely expressed genes were identified in TRT0h group with enriched "Antigen Presentation" function. Meanwhile, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified four significant gene modules (|correlation| > 0.50 and P ≤ 0.05). In particular, Turquoise gene module with the enriched "Cadherin binding involved in cell-cell adhesion" and "Cell-cell adherences junction" GO terms were significantly correlated with Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (R = -0.70, P < 0.01) and Bifidobacterium (R = -0.55, P < 0.01). Our findings suggest feeding colostrum without delay could stimulate the expression of genes involved in immune function development related to host response and microbial colonization in neonatal claves.

Keywords: Delayed colostrum feeding; Host-microbial interactions; Ileal transcriptome; Immune functions; Neonatal calf.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Newborn
Cattle
Colostrum* / metabolism
Female
Gene Expression Profiling
Ileum*
Immune System
Pregnancy