Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture & National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, Pakistan.
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2020 Mar;104(2):483-492. doi: 10.1111/jpn.13313. Epub 2020 Jan 29.
Perinatal period is the critical time in dairy cattle due to negative energy balance and high milk production stress. Being a key role in biosynthesis and methylation cycle, folic acid is considered essential for lactational and metabolic performance in dairy cattle. Thus, the current study was designed to evaluate the effect of folic acid supplementation on milk production phenotypic traits in periparturient cows. Transcriptomic screening was performed for milk production and metabolism-associated differentially expressed genes. The 123 cows having similar parity, weight and expected date of calving were randomly selected and divided into three groups; A (n = 41, folic acid 240 mg/500 kg cow/day), B (n = 40, FA 120 mg/500 kg cow/day) and C (Control, n = 42). Folic acid was supplemented for 21 days (14 days pre- and seven days post-calving), and three samples of blood lymphocytes were taken on day seven post-calving from each folic acid-treated and control group. In addition, the milk samples for each folic acid-treated group have been collected at 2nd, 3rd and 4th month of lactation. The increase in average milk yield noticed in group B were significantly (p-value < .05) higher than C and A. However, the data showed no noteworthy differences for milk fat and milk protein among the three groups. The transcriptomic analysis revealed that folic acid treatment regulated many key metabolic-related genes (DGAT2, ALOX5, LAP3, GPAT3, GGH, ALDOA, TKT) and pathways (glycolysis, folate biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, etc.) in periparturient dairy cattle. It was concluded from the above findings that 120 mg/500 kg of folic acid quantity could be considered as a standard during the periparturient period to enhance the milk production performance of dairy cows. The transcriptomic profile revealed several metabolic and milk production-associated genes which could be a useful addition to the marker selection for the enhancement of metabolism and milk production of periparturient dairy cows.
围产期是奶牛的关键时期，因为它们处于负能量平衡和高产奶压力下。叶酸作为生物合成和甲基化循环的关键角色，被认为对奶牛的泌乳和代谢性能至关重要。因此，本研究旨在评估叶酸补充对围产期奶牛产奶表型性状的影响。进行了产奶和代谢相关差异表达基因的转录组筛选。随机选择了 123 头具有相似胎次、体重和预计分娩日期的奶牛，分为三组；A（n=41，叶酸 240mg/500kg 奶牛/天）、B（n=40，FA 120mg/500kg 奶牛/天）和 C（对照组，n=42）。叶酸补充持续 21 天（分娩前 14 天和分娩后 7 天），并在分娩后第 7 天从每个叶酸处理组和对照组采集 3 份血淋巴细胞样本。此外，还收集了每个叶酸处理组在泌乳第 2、3 和 4 个月的牛奶样本。组 B 的平均产奶量增加显著（p 值<.05）高于 C 和 A。然而，三组之间的牛奶脂肪和牛奶蛋白数据没有显著差异。转录组分析表明，叶酸处理调节了围产期奶牛许多关键代谢相关基因（DGAT2、ALOX5、LAP3、GPAT3、GGH、ALDOA、TKT）和途径（糖酵解、叶酸生物合成、谷胱甘肽代谢等）。综上所述，120mg/500kg 的叶酸量可在围产期被视为奶牛产奶性能的标准。转录组谱揭示了一些代谢和产奶相关基因，可为围产期奶牛代谢和产奶性能的提高提供有用的标记选择。
