Role of the placenta in developmental programming: Observations from models using large animals.

Developmental programming, which proposes that "insults" or "stressors" during intrauterine or postnatal development can have not only immediate but also long-term consequences for healthy and productivity, has emerged as a major biological principle, and based on studies in many animal species also seems to be a universal phenomenon. In eutherians, the placenta appears to be programmed during its development, which has consequences for fetal growth and development throughout pregnancy, and likewise has long-term consequences for postnatal development, leading to programming of organ function of the offspring even into adulthood. This review summarizes our current understanding of the placenta's role in developmental programming, the mechanisms involved, and the challenges remaining.

REVIEW-ARTICLE Bioinformatics: an overview and its applications.

Technological advancements in recent years have promoted a marked progress in understanding the genetic basis of phenotypes. In line with these advances, genomics has changed the paradigm of biological questions in full genome-wide scale (genome-wide), revealing an explosion of data and opening up many possibilities. On the other hand, the vast amount of information that has been generated points the challenges that must be overcome for storage (Moore's law) and processing of biological information. In this context, bioinformatics and computational biology have sought to overcome such challenges. This review presents an overview of bioinformatics and its use in the analysis of biological data, exploring approaches, emerging methodologies, and tools that can give biological meaning to the data generated.

Allele- and parent-of-origin-specific effects on expression of the KCNJ11 gene: A candidate for meat tenderness in cattle.

In contrast to the Mendelian inheritance model, parental alleles can contribute unequally to gene expression, which may result in phenotypic variance among individuals and bias in the predicted additive effect of molecular markers associated with production traits. Given the need to understand the effects of allelic variation and parent-of-origin effects on the expression of genes with a commercial interest in cattle, we analyzed the expression of KCNJ11 (potassium inwardly rectifying channel, subfamily J, member 11), which was previously described as a functional candidate gene for meat tenderness. Allele-specific and parent-of-origin-dependent expression of this gene were assessed in bovine muscle using the rs379610823 single nucleotide polymorphism as a reference. Biallelic expression was observed; however, the T allele was expressed at significantly higher levels than the C allele. Furthermore, increased expression of KCNJ11 was found in animals harboring the maternal T allele. This study is the first to describe the differential allelic expression of bovine KCNJ11. Our findings are important for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the pattern of KCNJ11 expression and its potential impact on the phenotypic variation of meat tenderness in Nelore beef cattle. This reinforces the need for further investigation of allelic- and parent-of-origin expression deviation in genetic markers eligible for the selection of target traits.

A single nucleotide polymorphism in NEUROD1 is associated with production traits in Nelore beef cattle.

Feed efficiency and carcass characteristics are late-measured traits. The detection of molecular markers associated with them can help breeding programs to select animals early in life, and to predict breeding values with high accuracy. The objective of this study was to identify polymorphisms in the functional and positional candidate gene NEUROD1 (neurogenic differentiation 1), and investigate their associations with production traits in reference families of Nelore cattle. A total of 585 steers were used, from 34 sires chosen to represent the variability of this breed. By sequencing 14 animals with extreme residual feed intake (RFI) values, seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in NEUROD1 were identified. The investigation of marker effects on the target traits RFI, backfat thickness (BFT), ribeye area (REA), average body weight (ABW), and metabolic body weight (MBW) was performed with a mixed model using the restricted maximum likelihood method. SNP1062, which changes cytosine for guanine, had no significant association with RFI or REA. However, we found an additive effect on ABW (P ≤ 0.05) and MBW (P ≤ 0.05), with an estimated allele substitution effect of -1.59 and -0.93 kg0.75, respectively. A dominant effect of this SNP for BFT was also found (P ≤ 0.010). Our results are the first that identify NEUROD1 as a candidate that affects BFT, ABW, and MBW. Once confirmed, the inclusion of this SNP in dense panels may improve the accuracy of genomic selection for these traits in Nelore beef cattle as this SNP is not currently represented on SNP chips.

Caracterização morfométrica de fêmeas, garanhões e castrados da raça Campolina baseada em índices / Morphometric characterization of Campolina mares, stallions and gelded horses using indexes

O presente estudo objetivou avaliar os índices morfométricos para garanhões, machos castrados e fêmeas da raça Campolina, bem como caracterizá-los morfologicamente. Para tanto, foram utilizadas as medidas lineares de 4.840 garanhões, 19.037 fêmeas e 1.371 machos castrados, obtidas no banco de dados do Serviço de Registro Genealógico da ABCCCampolina, com base nas quais nove índices morfométricos foram calculados utilizando-se seis medidas lineares. A análise de variância foi realizada para avaliar o efeito do sexo e da idade sobre os índices obtidos. Verificou-se que ambos os fatores influenciaram os índices morfométricos. Garanhões apresentaram peso calculado aproximado superior tanto às fêmeas quanto aos machos castrados. De acordo com o índice peitoral, todas as categorias foram classificadas como "longe do chão". Em relação aos valores médios dos índices corporal e dáctilo torácico, garanhões e castrados foram classificados como mediolíneos e eumétricos, respectivamente, enquanto as fêmeas foram classificadas como brevilíneas e hipométricas. Conclui-se que os machos castrados e os garanhões da raça Campolina enquadram-se no padrão da raça para animais tipo sela, mas as fêmeas não. Entretanto, os índices de compacidade 1 e 2 apresentam resultados contraditórios e precisam ser melhor avaliados para fins de uso em classificações. Para a maioria dos índices, os animais castrados apresentaram-se melhor proporcionados que as demais categorias.

The present study aimed to evaluate the morphometric indexes for Campolina stallions, gelded and mare horses, as well as morphologically characterizing them. For this purpose linear measurements from 4.840 stallions, 19.037 mares and 1371 gelded horses were used, obtained from ABCCCampolina's stud book database, from which nine morphometric indexes were calculated from six linear measurements. Analysis of variance was carried out to evaluate the effect of sex and age on the indexes obtained. We found that both factors influenced the morphometric index. Stallions have presented higher estimate body weight values than mares and gelded horses. According to the pectoral index values all categories were classified as far from the ground. According to body index and dactyl thoracic index average values, stallions and gelded horses were classified as medium lined and middleweight, respectively, once the mares were classified as more compact and overweight. It is concluded that Campolina stallions and gelded horses fall within the breed standard for saddle animals, but mares don't. However, the compact indexes 1 and 2 showed contradictory results and need to be better evaluated for its intended use in classifications. For most indexes gelded animals showed better proportion than the other categories.