Meat Science Commons^™

Decoding The Equine Genome: Lessons From Encode, Sichong Peng, Jessica L. Petersen, Rebecca R. Bellone, Ted Kalbfleisch, N. B. Kingsley, Alexa Barber, Eleonora Cappelletti, Elena Giulotto, Carrie J. Finno

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The horse reference genome assemblies, EquCab2.0 and EquCab3.0, have enabled great advancements in the equine genomics field, from tools to novel discoveries. However, significant gaps of knowledge regarding genome function remain, hindering the study of complex traits in horses. In an effort to address these gaps and with inspiration from the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, the equine Functional Annotation of Animal Genome (FAANG) initiative was proposed to bridge the gap between genome and gene expression, providing further insights into functional regulation within the horse genome. Three years after launching the initiative, the equine FAANG group has generated data …

Micrornas As Biomarkers For Early Diagnosis, Prognosis, And Therapeutic Targeting Of Ovarian Cancer, Yegane Mirahmadi, Reza Nabavi, Fourough Taheri, Mohammad Mahdi Samadian, Zari Naderi Ghale-Noie, Mahsa Farjami, Abbas Samadi-Khouzani, Meysam Yousefi, Sara Azhdari, Arash Salmaninejad, Amirhossein Sahebkar

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Ovarian cancer is the major cause of gynecologic cancer-related mortality. Regardless of outstanding advances, which have been made for improving the prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of ovarian cancer, the majority of the patients will die of the disease. Late-stage diagnosis and the occurrence of recurrent cancer after treatment are the most important causes of the high mortality rate observed in ovarian cancer patients. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer may help find new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression, mostly at the posttranscriptional stage, …

Perches As Cooling Devices For Reducing Heat Stress In Caged Laying Hens: A Review, Jiaying Hu, Yijie Xiong

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Heat stress is one of the most detrimental environmental challenges affecting the biological process and the related production performance of farm animals, especially in poultry. Commercial laying hens have been bred (selected) for high egg production, resulting in increased sensitivity to heat stress due to breeding-linked metabolic heat production. In addition, laying hens are prone to heat stress due to their inadequate species-specific cooling mechanisms resulting in low heat tolerance. In addition, hens have no sweat glands and feathering covers almost their entire body to minimize body heat loss. The poultry industry and scientists are developing cooling methods to prevent …

Profile Of Producers And Production Of Dry-Aged Beef In Brazil, Jonatã Henrique Rezende-De-Souza, Flavio Andre Bolini Cardello, Ana Paula Moraes De Paula, Felipe A. Ribeiro, Chase C. Calkins, Sérgio Bertelli Pflanzer

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

No information is currently available on the profile of producers and production process of dry-aged beef in Brazil, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. We surveyed 37 Brazilian companies that were producing dry-aged beef in 2020 to investigate this market. The absolute and relative frequency of responses was calculated to obtain the sum, average, minimum, and maximum values. From the respondents, dry-aged beef was first produced in 2009, and most producers are located in big cities. Most respondents control and monitor chamber temperature; however, humidity and air velocity only are monitored. The aging period (mostly between 22 to 60 …

Impact Of Feeding Syngenta Enogen® Feed Corn Compared To Control Corn In Different Diet Scenarios To Finishing Beef Cattle, Stacia M. Volk, Hannah H. Wilson, Kathryn J. Hanford, James C. Macdonald, Galen E. Erickson

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The objective of this pooled statistical analysis was to evaluate Syngenta Enogen® Feed Corn (EFC) versus conventional corn (CON) when fed as either dry-rolled corn (DRC) or highmoisture corn (HMC) for effects on finishing beef cattle performance and carcass characteristics. Corns were evaluated in diets with byproduct inclusion rates of 0, 15, 18, 20, and 30% distiller grains or 25 and 35% Sweet Bran® (a commercial corn gluten feed product). Seven trials (n = 1856) consisting of 200 pen means comparing 26 diet treatments were analyzed using regression in a pooled analysis. When EFC was processed as DRC, the gain …

Non - Naturally Occurring Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus ( Prrsv ) And Methods Of Using, Hiep Lai Xuan Vu, Fernando Osorio, William W. Laegreid, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fangrui Ma

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

A non - naturally occurring porcine reproductive and respi ratory syndrome virus ( PRRSV ) is provided herein , and methods of making and using the non - naturally occurring PRRSV also are provided

Whole-Genome Sequencing To Investigate A Possible Genetic Basis Of Perosomus Elumbis In A Calf Resulting From A Consanguineous Mating, Alexa M. Barber, Alyssa Helms, Riley Thompson, Brian K. Whitlock, David J. Steffen, Jessica Lynn Petersen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Perosomus elumbis (PE) is a lethal, congenital defect marked by aplasia of the lumbar and sacral spine and spinal cord. Contracture of the hind limbs is also commonly observed in affected individuals. PE has been reported in many domestic species, with numerous case reports in Holstein cattle in the past two decades (Jones, 1999; Karakaya et al., 2013; Agerholm et al., 2014). The etiology of PE remains unknown. In one instance, a stillborn Holstein calf with PE was found to be infected with Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) (Karakaya et al., 2013), and thus, it is possible that PE may …

Using Beet Pulp To Adapt Cattle To Finishing Diets Compared To Traditional Grain Adaptation With Alfalfa Hay, C. J. Schneider, Matt K. Luebbe, K. H. Jenkins, Stephanie A. Furman Furman, Galen E. Erickson, Terry J. Klopfenstein

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

A study was conducted to compare grain adaptation programs using beet pulp (BP) to traditional grain adaptation with alfalfa hay (AH). Yearling crossbred steers (n = 232; BW = 326 ± 14.5 kg) were separated into 3 weight blocks, stratified by BW, and assigned randomly, within strata, to 18 feedlot pens, with 12 or 13 steers per pen. Treatments were imposed during grain adaptation (21 d) using 3 grain adaptation programs. Within each grain adaptation program, 4 step rations were fed for 3, 4, 7, and 7 d. Each program increased dry-rolled corn inclusion while roughage inclusion decreased. In the …

Effect Of A Trace Mineral Injection On Performance And Trace Mineral Status Of Beef Cows And Calves, Carmen J. Willmore, John B. Hall, Mary E. Drewnoski

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The objective was to determine the effects of an injectable trace mineral (TMI; Multimin 90) containing copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) on trace mineral status and the resulting impacts on reproduction of beef cows and the growth of their calves. Beef cows (n = 200) were assigned to receive TMI or no injection (CON) prior to calving and breeding over two consecutive years. Calves born to cows receiving TMI also received TMI at birth in both years and at 49 ± 1.3 days of age in year 1. The TMI increased (p = 0.01) liver Zn …

Classifying Ingestive Behavior Of Dairy Cows Via Automatic Sound Recognition, Guoming Li, Yijie Xiong, Qian Du, Zhengxiang Shi, Richard S. Gates

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Determining ingestive behaviors of dairy cows is critical to evaluate their productivity and health status. The objectives of this research were to (1) develop the relationship between forage species/heights and sound characteristics of three different ingestive behaviors (bites, chews, and chew-bites); (2) comparatively evaluate three deep learning models and optimization strategies for classifying the three behaviors; and (3) examine the ability of deep learning modeling for classifying the three ingestive behaviors under various forage characteristics. The results show that the amplitude and duration of the bite, chew, and chew-bite sounds were mostly larger for tall forages (tall fescue and alfalfa) …

Breed And Heterotic Effects For Mature Weight In Beef Cattle, Madeline J. Zimmermann, Larry A. Kuehn, Matthew L. Spangler, R. M. Thallman, Warren M. Snelling, Ronald M. Lewis

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Cow mature weight (MWT) is heritable and affects the costs and efficiency of a breeding operation. Cow weight is also influenced by the environment, and the relationship between the size and profitability of a cow varies depending on production system. Producers, therefore, need tools to incorporate MWT in their selection of cattle breeds and herd replacements. The objective of this study was to estimate breed and heterotic effects for MWT using weight-age data on crossbred cows. Cow's MWT at 6 yr was predicted from the estimated parameter values-asymptotic weight and maturation constant (k)-from the fit of the Brody function to …

Genetic Parameter Estimates For Bull Prolificacy And Its Relationship With Scrotal Circumference In A Commercial Beef Cattle Population, Chad A. Russell, E John Pollak, Matthew L. Spangler

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The commercial beef cattle industry relies heavily on the use of natural service sires. When artificial insemination is deemed difficult to implement, multisire breeding pastures are used to increase reproductive rates in large breeding herds or to safe-guard against bull injury during the breeding season. Although each bull might be given an equal opportunity to produce offspring, evidence suggest that there is substantial variation in the number of calves sired by each bull in a breeding pasture. With the use of DNA-based paternity testing, correctly assigning calves to their respective sires in multisire pastures is possible and presents an opportunity …

Transcriptomic Data Of Bovine Ovarian Granulosa Cells Of Control And High A4 Cows, Alexandria P. Snider, Sarah Romereim, Renee Mcfee Fee, Adam F. Summers, William E. Pohlmeier, Scott G. Kurz, John S. Davis, Jennifer R. Wood, Andrea S. Cupp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Microarray analysis using Affymetrix Bovine GeneChip 1.0 ST Array to determine RNA expression analysis was performed on somatic granulosa cells from two different groups of cows classified based on androstenedione concentration within the follicular fluid (Control vs High A4) of estrogen-active dominant follicles. The normalized linear microarray data was deposited to the NCBI GEO repository (GSE97017 - RNA Expression Data from Bovine Ovarian Granulosa Cells from High or Low Androgen-Content Follicles). Subsequent ANOVA determined genes that were enriched (≥ 1.5 fold more) or decreased (≤ 1.5 fold less) in the High A4 granulosa cells compared to Control granulosa cells and …

Successful Atac-Seq From Snap-Frozen Equine Tissues, Sichong Peng, Rebecca Bellone, Jessica Lynn Petersen, Theodore S. Kalbfleisch, Carrie J. Finno

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

An assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) has become an increasingly popular method to assess genome-wide chromatin accessibility in isolated nuclei from fresh tissues. However, many biobanks contain only snap-frozen tissue samples. While ATAC-seq has been applied to frozen brain tissues in human, its applicability in a wide variety of tissues in horse remains unclear. The Functional Annotation of Animal Genome (FAANG) project is an international collaboration aimed to provide high quality functional annotation of animal genomes. The equine FAANG initiative has generated a biobank of over 80 tissues from two reference female animals and experiments to begin …

Effects Of Farrowing Stall Layout And Number Of Heat Lamps On Sow And Piglet Behavior, Suzanne M. Leonard, Hongwei Xin, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Brett C. Ramirez, Anna K. Johnson, Somak Dutta, Gary A. Rohrer

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Farrowing stalls are used in the United States swine industry to reduce pre-weaning piglet mortality, enable efficient individual animal management, and decrease facility construction and operating costs. The quantity and quality of space provided for sows and piglets in farrowing stalls are important economic and welfare considerations. To further explore the impacts of farrowing stall space allocation, a large-scale field study was conducted to compare sow and piglet behavior when housed in three farrowing stall layouts (TSL – traditional stall layout, ECSL – expanded creep area stall layout, ESCSL – expanded sow and creep area stall layout) with either one …

A High-Androgen Microenvironment Inhibits Granulosa Cell Proliferation And Alters Cell Identity, Renee Mcfee Fee, Sarah Romereim, Alexandria P. Snider, Adam F. Summers, William E. Pohlmeier, Scott G. Kurz, Robert A. Cushman, John S. Davis, Jennifer R. Wood, Andrea S. Cupp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

A naturally occurring bovine model with excess follicular fluid androstenedione (High A4), reduced fertility, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-like characteristics has been identified. We hypothesized High A4 granulosa cells (GCs) would exhibit altered cell proliferation and/or steroidogenesis. Microarrays of Control and High A4 GCs combined with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis indicated that High A4 GCs had cell cycle inhibition and increased expression of microRNAs that inhibit cell cycle genes. Granulosa cell culture confirmed that A4 treatment decreased GC proliferation, increased anti-Müllerian hormone, and increased mRNA for CTNNBIP1. Increased CTNNBIP1 prevents CTNNB1 from interacting with members of the WNT signaling pathway thereby …

Maternal Vitamin And Mineral Supplementation And Rate Of Maternal Weight Gain Affects Placental Expression Of Energy Metabolism And Transport-Related Genes, Wellison J. S. Diniz, Lawrence P. Reynolds, Pawel P. Borowicz, Alison K. Ward, Kevin K. Sedivec, Kacie L. Mccarthy, Cierrah J. Kassetas, Friederike Baumgaertner, James D. Kirsch, Sheri T. Dorsam, Tammi L. Neville, J. Chris Forcherio, Ronald R. Scott, Joel S. Caton, Carl R. Dahlen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Maternal nutrients are essential for proper fetal and placental development and function. However, the effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation under two rates of maternal weight gain on placental genome-wide gene expression have not been investigated so far. Furthermore, biological processes and pathways in the placenta that act in response to early maternal nutrition are yet to be elucidated. Herein, we examined the impact of maternal vitamin and mineral supplementation (from pre-breeding to day 83 post-breeding) and two rates of gain during the first 83 days of pregnancy on the gene expression of placental caruncles (CAR; maternal placenta) and cotyledons …

Attainment And Maintenance Of Pubertal Cyclicity May Predict Reproductive Longevity In Beef Heifers, Sarah R. Nafziger, Sarah C. Tenley, Adam F. Summers, Mohamed A. Abedal-Majed, Mariah Hart, Jeffrey W. Bergman, Scott G. Kurz, John S. Davis, Jennifer R. Wood, Andrea S. Cupp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

We hypothesized the manner that heifers achieve puberty may indicate their future reproductive longevity. Heifers with discontinued or delayed cyclicity during puberty attainment may have irregular reproductive cycles, anovulation, and infertility in their first breeding season contributing to a shorter reproductive lifespan. Therefore, plasma progesterone (P4) was measured from weaning to breeding on 611 heifers born 2012–2017 and four pubertal classifications were identified: (1) Early; P4 ≥ 1 ng/ml < March 12 with continued cyclicity, (2) Typical; P4 ≥ 1 ng/ml ≥ March 12 with continued cyclicity, (3) Start-Stop; P4 ≥ 1 ng/ml but discontinued cyclicity, and (4) Non-Cycling; no P4 ≥ 1 ng/ml. Historical herd records indicated that 25% of heifers achieved puberty prior to March 12th in the 10 years prior to the study. Start-Stop and Non-Cycling yearling heifers were lighter indicating reduced growth and reproductive maturity traits compared with Early/Typical heifers. In addition, Non-Cycling/Start-Stop heifers were less responsive to prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2α) to initiate estrous behavior and ovulation to be artificially inseminated. Non-Cycling heifers had fewer reproductive tract score-5 and reduced numbers of calves born in the first 21-days-ofcalving during their first breeding season. Within the Start-Stop classification, 50% of heifers reinitiated cyclicity with growth traits and reproductive parameters that were similar to heifers in the Early/Typical classification while those that remained non-cyclic were more similar to heifers in the Non-Cycling group. Thus, heifers with discontinued cyclicity or no cyclicity during puberty attainment had delayed reproductive maturity resulting in subfertility and potentially a shorter reproductive lifespan.

“Adopt-A-Tissue” Initiative Advances Efforts To Identify Tissue-Specific Histone Marks In The Mare, N B. Kingsley, Natasha A. Hamilton, Gabriella Lindgren, Ludovic Orlando, Ernie Bailey, Samantha Brooks, Molly Mccue, T S. Kalbfleisch, James N. Macleod, Jessica L. Petersen, Carrie J. Finno, Rebecca R. Bellone

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Generation Of A Biobank From Two Adult Thoroughbred Stallions For The Functional Annotation Of Animal Genomes Initiative, Callum G. Donnelly, Rebecca R. Bellone, Erin N. Hales, Annee Nguyen, Scott A. Katzman, Ghislaine A. Dujovne, Kelly E. Knickelbein, Felipe Avila, Ted S. Kalbfleisch, Elena Giulotto, Nicole B. Kingsley, Jocelyn Tanaka, Elizabeth Esdaile, Sichong Peng, Anna Dahlgren, Anna Fuller, Michael J. Mienaltowski, Terje Raudsepp, Verena K. Affolter, Jessica L. Petersen, Carrie J. Finno

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Following the successful creation of a biobank from two adult Thoroughbred mares, this study aimed to recapitulate sample collection in two adult Thoroughbred stallions as part of the Functional Annotation of the Animal Genome (FAANG) initiative. Both stallions underwent thorough physical, lameness, neurologic, and ophthalmic (including electroretinography) examinations prior to humane euthanasia. Epididymal sperm was recovered from both stallions immediately postmortem and cryopreserved. Aseptically collected full thickness skin biopsies were used to isolate, culture and cryopreserve dermal fibroblasts. Serum, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and gastrointestinal content from various locations were collected and cryopreserved. Under guidance of a board-certified veterinary anatomic …

Genomic Comparisons Of Persian Kurdish, Persian Arabian And American Thoroughbred Horse Populations, Navid Yousefi-Mashouf, Hassan Mehrabani-Yeganeh, Ardeshir Nejati-Javaremi, Ernest Bailey, Jessica L. Petersen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The present research aimed to characterize the Persian Kurdish horse population relative to the Persian Arabian and American Thoroughbred populations using genome-wide SNP data. Fifty-eight Kurdish, 38 Persian Arabian and 83 Thoroughbred horses were genotyped across 670,796 markers. After quality control and pruning to eliminate linkage disequilibrium between loci which resulted in 13,554 SNPs in 52 Kurdish, 24 Persian Arabian and 58 Thoroughbred horses, the Kurdish horses were generally distinguished from the Persian Arabian samples by Principal Component Analyses, cluster analyses and calculation of pairwise F_ST. Both Persian breeds were discriminated from the Thoroughbred. Pairwise F_ST between …

Longitudinal Assessment Of The Bovine Ocular Bacterial Community Dynamics In Calves, Alison Bartenslager, Nirosh D. Aluthge, John Dustin Loy, Matthew M. Hille, Matthew L. Spangler, Samodha C. Fernando

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background: Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye, is one of the most significant diseases of beef cattle. As such, IBK costs the US beef industry at least 150 million annually. However, strategies to prevent IBK are limited, with most cases resulting in treatment with antibiotics once the disease has developed. Longitudinal studies evaluating establishment of the ocular microbiota may identify critical risk periods for IBK outbreaks or changes in the microbiota that may predispose animals to IBK.

Results: In an attempt to characterize the establishment and colonization patterns of the bovine ocular microbiota, we conducted a longitudinal study …

Longitudinal Assessment Of The Bovine Ocular Bacterial Community Dynamics In Calves, Alison Bartenslager, Nirosh D. Aluthge, John Dustin Loy

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background: Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye, is one of the most significant diseases of beef cattle. As such, IBK costs the US beef industry at least 150 million annually. However, strategies to prevent IBK are limited, with most cases resulting in treatment with antibiotics once the disease has developed. Longitudinal studies evaluating establishment of the ocular microbiota may identify critical risk periods for IBK outbreaks or changes in the microbiota that may predispose animals to IBK.

Results: In an attempt to characterize the establishment and colonization patterns of the bovine ocular microbiota, we conducted a longitudinal study …

Utilizing An Electronic Feeder To Measure Individual Mineral Intake, Feeding Behavior, And Growth Performance Of Cow–Calf Pairs Grazing Native Range, Kacie L. Mccarthy, Michael Undi, Stephanie Becker, Carl R. Dahlen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Crossbred Angus cow–calf pairs (n = 28 pairs) at the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center (Streeter, North Dakota) were used to evaluate an electronic feeder to monitor individual mineral intake and feeding behavior and their relationship with growth performance and liver mineral concentrations. Cows and calves were fitted with radio frequency identification ear tags that allowed access to an electronic feeder (SmartFeed system; C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, South Dakota) and were provided ad libitum minerals (Purina Wind and Rain Storm, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Arden Hills, MN). Mineral intake, number of visits, and duration at the feeder were recorded over …

Psxii-19 Urine Metabolomics Analysis Associated With Feed Efficiency On Crossbred Steers During The Growing And Finishing Period On Forage- And Concentrate- Based Diets., Virginia M. Artegoitia, John Newman, Ronald M. Lewis, Andrew P. Foote, Harvey C. Freetly

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

A discovery project to identify non‐invasive biomarkers that can detect subtle metabolic discrepancies for cattle feed efficiency was performed using untargeted and targeted urine metabolomics by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Individual feed intake and body weight gain were measured in crossbred steers (n = 80) on a forage-based growing ration (stage-1) followed by a high-concentrate diet finishing ration (stage- 2). Urine was collected on study days 0, 21, 42, 63, and 83 for each dietary stage. In total, 28 steers with the greatest and the least average daily-gain (ADG) within 0.32 SD of the mean of dry-matter-intake (DMI) were used. …

Epigenetic Clock And Methylation Study Of Oocytes From A Bovine Model Of Reproductive Aging, Pawel Kordowitzki, Amin Haghani, Joseph A. Zoller, Caesar Z. Li, Ken Raj, Matthew L. Spangler, Steve Horvath

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Cattle are an attractive animal model of fertility in women due to their high degree of similarity relative to follicle selection, embryo cleavage, blastocyst formation, and gestation length. To facilitate future studies of the epigenetic underpinnings of aging effects in the female reproductive axis, several DNA methylation-based biomarkers of aging (epigenetic clocks) for bovine oocytes are presented. One such clock was germane to only oocytes, while a dual-tissue clock was highly predictive of age in both oocytes and blood. Dual species clocks that apply to both humans and cattle were also developed and evaluated. These epigenetic clocks can be used …

Relationship Between Urinary Energy And Urinary Nitrogen Or Carbon Excretion In Lactating Jersey Cows, D. L. Morris, Jeffrey L. Firkins, C. Lee, W. P. Weiss, Paul J. Kononoff

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Measurement of urinary energy (UE) excretion is essential to determine metabolizable energy (ME) supply. Our objectives were to evaluate the accuracy of using urinary N (UN) or C (UC) to estimate UE and ultimately improve the accuracy of estimating ME. Individual animal data (n = 433) were used from 11 studies with Jersey cows at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where samples were analyzed after drying (n = 299) or on an as-is basis (n = 134). Dried samples resulted in greater estimated error variance compared with as-is samples, and thus only as-is samples were used for final models. The as-is …

A Transgenic Pig Model Expressing A Cmv-Zsgreen1 Reporter Across An Extensive Array Of Tissues, Amy T. Desaulniers, Rebecca A. Cederberg, Elizabeth P. Carreiro, Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy, Brett R. White

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Since genetic engineering of pigs can benefit both biomedicine and agriculture, selecting a suitable gene promoter is critically important. The cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, which can robustly drive ubiquitous transgene expression, is commonly used at present, yet recent reports suggest tissue-specific activity in the pig. The objective of this study was to quantify ZsGreen1 protein (in lieu of CMV promoter activity) in tissues from pigs harboring a CMV-ZsGreen1 transgene with a single integration site. Tissue samples (n=35) were collected from neonatal hemizygous (n=3) and homozygous (n=3) piglets and ZsGreen1 abundance was determined via immunoblotting. ZsGreen1 was detected in all tissues, except …

Using Triallelic Snps For Determining Parentage In North American Yak (Bos Grunniens) And Estimating Cattle (B. Taurus) Introgression, Theodore S. Kalbfleisch, Jessica L. Petersen, R. G. Tait Jr., Jiansheng Qiu, Veronica Basnayake, Peter H. Hackett, Michael P. Heaton

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background: Genetic testing for pedigree accuracy is critical for managing genetic diversity in North American (NA) yak (Bos grunniens ), a population expanded mostly from imported zoological park specimens. DNA testing also enhances species conservation by identifying recent B. taurus F1 hybrid ancestors (within three generations). Biallelic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can accomplish either task, but increases the marker count and costs necessary to achieve both. Our aim was to identify novel, multifunctional, triallelic yak SNPs (tySNPs), with each having two alleles for yak parentage testing, and a third allele for identifying recent cattle introgression.

Methods: Genome sequences were …

Mandibulofacial Dysostosis Attributed To A Recessive Mutation Of Cyp26c1 In Hereford Cattle, Renae L. Sieck, Anna M. Fuller, Patrick S. Bedwell, Jack A. Ward, Stacy K. Sanders, Shi-Hua Xiang, Sichong Peng, Jessica Lynn Petersen, David J. Steffen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

In spring 2020, six Hereford calves presented with congenital facial deformities attributed to a condition we termed mandibulofacial dysostosis (MD). Affected calves shared hallmark features of a variably shortened and/or asymmetric lower mandible and bilateral skin tags present 2–10 cm caudal to the commissure of the lips. Pedigree analysis revealed a single common ancestor shared by the sire and dam of each affected calf. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 20 animals led to the discovery of a variant (Chr26 g. 14404993T>C) in Exon 3 of CYP26C1 associated with MD. This missense mutation (p.L188P), is located in an α helix of …