Harnessing Male Germline Epigenomics for the Genetic Improvement in Cattle

Overview

Journal J Anim Sci Biotechnol

Publisher Biomed Central

Date 2023 Jun 5

PMID 37277852

Authors

Xiao Wang

Wenlong Li

Xia Feng

Jianbin Li

George E Liu

Lingzhao Fang

Ying Yu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Sperm is essential for successful artificial insemination in dairy cattle, and its quality can be influenced by both epigenetic modification and epigenetic inheritance. The bovine germline differentiation is characterized by epigenetic reprogramming, while intergenerational and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance can influence the offspring's development through the transmission of epigenetic features to the offspring via the germline. Therefore, the selection of bulls with superior sperm quality for the production and fertility traits requires a better understanding of the epigenetic mechanism and more accurate identifications of epigenetic biomarkers. We have comprehensively reviewed the current progress in the studies of bovine sperm epigenome in terms of both resources and biological discovery in order to provide perspectives on how to harness this valuable information for genetic improvement in the cattle breeding industry.

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