Expression data from early luteal bovine endometrium

In both beef and dairy cattle, the majority of embryo loss occurs in the first 14 days following insemination. During this period, the embryo is completely dependent on its maternal uterine environment for development, growth and ultimately survival, therefore an optimum uterine environment is critical to embryo survival. We used microarrays to assess endometrial gene expression in high and low fertility heifers during the mid-luteal phase of the estrous cycle. Charlaois × Limousin heifers were artificially inseminated on 4 successive occasions and heifers were subsequently characterized as either high or low fertility (HF; LF) based on the presence of an embryo on day 28 of pregnancy on all four inseminations or on one occasion only, respectively. From this population of animals, HF and LF heifers were slaughtered on day 7 of a synchronized estrous cycle and global gene expression in uterine endometrial tissue was determined using the Affymetrix 23K Bovine GeneChip.