Maternal methionine supplementation alters the epigenome of the offspring [RNA-Seq]

Maternal nutrition can induce modifications in the epigenome of the fetus, resulting in gene expression alterations and impacting future performance. Epigenetic changes are related to nutrition via the one carbon cycle, which involves aminoacid methionine. We hypothesized that an increased dietary methionine in beef cows during early gestation will impact the whole-genome DNA methylation and transcriptome of the offspring. Brangus-Angus crossbred cows were randomly assigned to one of two nutritional treatments during days -30 to +90 relative to the breeding season: Control Treatment (low-quality limpograss hay supplemented with molasses and urea) and Methionine Treatment (control diet supplemented with 3.7g of rumen-protected methionine per head per day). Longissimus dorsi muscle samples were collected from 10 bull calves per maternal treatment at one month of age. Muscle tissue samples were subjected to RNA extraction, library generation, and subsequent sequencing.

母体营养可诱导胎儿表观基因组（epigenome）发生修饰，进而引发基因表达改变，并影响其后续生长性能。
表观遗传变化通过涉及甲硫氨酸的一碳循环途径与营养状态产生关联。
本研究提出假设：肉牛妊娠早期日粮中添加过量甲硫氨酸，会影响后代的全基因组DNA甲基化与转录组（transcriptome）特征。
将勃拉格斯-安格斯杂交肉牛于配种季前后-30至+90天的阶段内，随机分为两种营养处理组：对照组（饲喂低质量李氏禾干草，并补充糖蜜与尿素）以及甲硫氨酸组（在对照组日粮基础上，每头每日添加3.7g瘤胃保护型甲硫氨酸）。
在子代公牛犊1月龄时，从每个母体处理组中采集10头公牛的背最长肌样本。
对采集的肌肉组织样本进行RNA提取、文库构建及后续测序。