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Liu Y, Liu S, Sheng H, Feng X, Wang S, Hu Y, Zhang L, Cai B, Ma Y. Revolutionizing cattle breeding: Gene editing advancements for enhancing economic traits. Gene 2024; 927:148595. [PMID: 38795857 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024]
Abstract
Beef and dairy products are rich in protein and amino acids, making them highly nutritious for human consumption. The increasing use of gene editing technology in agriculture has paved the way for genetic improvement in cattle breeding via the development of the CRISPR/Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein) system. Gene sequences are artificially altered and employed in the pursuit of improving bovine breeding research through targeted knockout, knock-in, substitution, and mutation methods. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of the advancements in gene editing technology and its diverse applications in enhancing both quantitative and qualitative traits across livestock. These applications encompass areas such as meat quality, milk quality, fertility, disease resistance, environmental adaptability, sex control, horn development, and coat colour. Furthermore, the review considers prospective ideas and insights that may be employed to refine breeding traits, enhance editing efficiency, and navigate the ethical considerations associated with these advancements. The review's focus on improving the quality of beef and milk is intended to enhance the economic viability of these products. Furthermore, it constitutes a valuable resource for scholars and researchers engaged in the fields of cattle genetic improvement and breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Liu
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Shuang Liu
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Hui Sheng
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Xue Feng
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Shuzhe Wang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Yamei Hu
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Lingkai Zhang
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
| | - Bei Cai
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
| | - Yun Ma
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China; Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
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Aldersey JE, Liu N, Tearle R, Low WY, Breen J, Williams JL, Bottema CDK. Topologically associating domains in the POLLED region are the same for Angus- and Brahman-specific Hi-C reads from F1 hybrid fetal tissue. Anim Genet 2023. [PMID: 36990727 DOI: 10.1111/age.13322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Horns, a form of headgear carried by Bovidae, have ethical and economic implications for ruminant production species such as cattle and goats. Hornless (polled) individuals are preferred. In cattle, four genetic variants (Celtic, Friesian, Mongolian and Guarani) are associated with the polled phenotype, which are clustered in a 300-kb region on chromosome 1. As the variants are intergenic, the functional effect is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine if the POLLED variants affect chromatin structure or disrupt enhancers using publicly available data. Topologically associating domains (TADs) were analyzed using Angus- and Brahman-specific Hi-C reads from lung tissue of an Angus (Celtic allele) cross Brahman (horned) fetus. Predicted bovine enhancers and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing peaks for histone modifications associated with enhancers (H3K27ac and H3K4me1) were mapped to the POLLED region. TADs analyzed from Angus- and Brahman-specific Hi-C reads were the same, therefore, the Celtic variant does not appear to affect this level of chromatin structure. The Celtic variant is located in a different TAD from the Friesian, Mongolian, and Guarani variants. Predicted enhancers and histone modifications overlapped with the Guarani and Friesian variants but not the Celtic or Mongolian variants. This study provides insight into the mechanisms of the POLLED variants for disrupting horn development. These results should be validated using data produced from the horn bud region of horned and polled bovine fetuses.
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Affiliation(s)
- J E Aldersey
- Davies Livestock Research Centre, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia
| | - N Liu
- South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - R Tearle
- Davies Livestock Research Centre, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia
- Alkahest Inc, San Carlos, California, USA
| | - W Y Low
- Davies Livestock Research Centre, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia
| | - J Breen
- South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Adelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - J L Williams
- Davies Livestock Research Centre, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia
- Department of Animal Science, Food and Technology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy
| | - C D K Bottema
- Davies Livestock Research Centre, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia
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Uncovering Novel Features of the Pc Locus in Horn Development from Gene-Edited Holstein Cattle by RNA-Sequencing Analysis. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232012060. [PMID: 36292916 PMCID: PMC9603690 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232012060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 10/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Polled Celtic (Pc) mutation locus is a genetically simple single mutation that is the best choice for breeding polled cattle using gene editing. However, the mechanism of the Pc locus for regulating horn development is unclear, so we used gene editing, somatic cell nuclear transfer and embryo transfer to obtain polled Holstein fetal bovine (gestation time 90 days) with a homozygous Pc insertion (gene-edited Holstein fetal bovine, EH) and the wild-type 90 days Holstein fetal bovine (WH) as controls. The hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining results showed that, compared to the WH, the EH horn buds had no white keratinized projections or vacuolated keratinocytes and no thick nerve bundles under the dermal tissue. Furthermore, DNA sequencing results showed that the Pc locus was homozygously inserted into the fetal bovine genome. A total of 791 differentially expressed genes were identified by transcriptome sequencing analysis. Enrichment analysis and protein interaction analysis results of differentially expressed genes showed that abundant gene changes after Pc insertion were associated with the adhesion molecule regulation, actin expression, cytoskeletal deformation and keratin expression and keratinization. It was also noted that the results contained several genes that had been reported to be associated with the development of horn traits, such as RXFP2 and TWIST1. This study identified these changes for the first time and summarized them. The results suggested that the Pc mutant locus may inhibit neural crest cell EMT generation and keratin expression, leading to failures in neural crest cell migration and keratinization of the horn bud tissue, regulating the production of the polled phenotype.
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Hennig SL, McNabb BR, Trott JF, Van Eenennaam AL, Murray JD. LincRNA#1 knockout alone does not affect polled phenotype in cattle heterozygous for the celtic POLLED allele. Sci Rep 2022; 12:7627. [PMID: 35538091 PMCID: PMC9090918 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-11669-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
A long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA#1) is overexpressed in the horn bud region of polled (hornless) bovine fetuses, suggesting a potential role in horn bud suppression. Genome editing was used to test whether the absence of this sequence was associated with the horned phenotype. Two gRNAs with high mutation efficiencies targeting the 5' and the 3' regions flanking the lincRNA#1 sequence were co-injected with Cas9 as ribonucleoprotein complexes into bovine zygotes (n = 121) 6 h post insemination. Of the resulting blastocysts (n = 31), 84% had the expected 3.7 kb deletion; of these embryos with the 3.7 kb deletions, 88% were biallelic knockouts. Thirty-nine presumptive edited 7-day blastocysts were transferred to 13 synchronized recipient cows resulting in ten pregnancies, five with embryos heterozygous for the dominant PC POLLED allele at the POLLED locus, and five with the recessive pp genotype. Eight (80%) of the resulting fetuses were biallelic lincRNA#1 knockouts, with the remaining two being mosaic. RT-qPCR analysis was used to confirm the absence of lincRNA#1 expression in knockout fetuses. Phenotypic and histological analysis of the genotypically (PCp) POLLED, lincRNA#1 knockout fetuses revealed similar morphology to non-edited, control polled fetuses, indicating the absence of lincRNA#1 alone does not result in a horned phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadie L Hennig
- Department of Animal Science, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Bret R McNabb
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Josephine F Trott
- Department of Animal Science, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | | | - James D Murray
- Department of Animal Science, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA. .,Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
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Simon R, Drögemüller C, Lühken G. The Complex and Diverse Genetic Architecture of the Absence of Horns (Polledness) in Domestic Ruminants, including Goats and Sheep. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13050832. [PMID: 35627216 PMCID: PMC9140736 DOI: 10.3390/genes13050832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Horns are the most obvious common feature of Bovidae. The naturally occurring absence of horns in these species, also known as polledness, is of surprisingly heterogeneous nature, although they are Mendelian traits. This review compares in detail the molecular differences among the causes of inherited polledness in the domestic ruminant species of cattle, yak, sheep, and goat based on the causal gene variants that have been discovered in recent years. The genetic causes for the lack of horns in small ruminants seem not only to be more complex, e.g., in sheep, breed-specific characteristics are still unexplained, but in goats, there is also the associated disorder of intersexuality—polled intersex syndrome (PIS). In connection with animal welfare and the associated discussion about a legal ban on the dehorning of all farm animals, naturally hornless animals and the causal genetic variants are of increasing research interest in the age of genome editing. However, the low acceptance of genetic engineering in livestock, especially in European societies, limits its use in food-producing animals. Therefore, genotype-based targeted selection of naturally occurring variants is still a widely used method for spreading this desired trait within and across populations, at least in cattle and sheep.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Simon
- Institute for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35390 Giessen, Germany; (R.S.); (G.L.)
| | - Cord Drögemüller
- Institute of Genetics, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
- Correspondence:
| | - Gesine Lühken
- Institute for Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35390 Giessen, Germany; (R.S.); (G.L.)
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