Sexually dimorphic gene expression in bovine conceptuses at the initiation of implantation

Forde, Niamh; Maillo, Veronica; O'Gaora, Peadar; Simintiras, Constantine A.; Sturmey, Roger G.; Ealy, Alan D.; Spencer, Thomas E.; Gutierrez-Adan, Alfonso; Rizos, Dimitrios; Lonergan, Patrick

Abstract

In cattle, maternal recognition of pregnancy occurs on Day 16 via secretion of interferon tau (IFNT) by the conceptus. The endometrium can distinguish between embryos with different developmental competencies. In eutherian mammals, X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is required to ensure an equal transcriptional level of most X-linked genes for both male and female embryos in adult tissues, but this process is markedly different in cattle than mice. We examined how sexual dimorphism affected conceptus transcript abundance and amino acid composition as well as the endometrial transcriptome during the peri-implantation period of pregnancy. Of the 5132 genes that were differentially expressed on Day 19 in male compared to female conceptuses, 2.7% were located on the X-chromosome. Concentrations of specific amino acids were higher in the uterine luminal fluid of male compared to female conceptuses, while female conceptuses had higher transcript abundance of specific amino acid transporters (SLC6A19 and SLC1A35). Of note, the endometrial transcriptome was not different in cattle gestating a male or a female conceptus. These data support the hypothesis that, far from being a blastocyst specific phenomenon, XCI is incomplete before and during implantation in cattle. Despite differences in transcript abundance and amino acid utilization in male versus female conceptuses, the sex of the conceptus itself does not elicit a different transcriptomic response in the endometrium.

Citation

Forde, N., Maillo, V., O'Gaora, P., Simintiras, C. A., Sturmey, R. G., Ealy, A. D., Spencer, T. E., Gutierrez-Adan, A., Rizos, D., & Lonergan, P. (2016). Sexually dimorphic gene expression in bovine conceptuses at the initiation of implantation. Biology of Reproduction, 95(4), Article ARTN 92. https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.116.139857

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 29, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 1, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Aug 5, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 11, 2019
• Journal: Biology of reproduction
• Print ISSN: 0006-3363
• Publisher: Society for the Study of Reproduction
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 95
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: ARTN 92
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.116.139857
• Keywords: Sexually dimorphic gene expression
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/442017
• Publisher URL: http://www.biolreprod.org/content/early/2016/07/29/biolreprod.116.139857
• Additional Information: This is a description of an article published in Biology of reproduction, 2016.; ; The published article is currently free access on the publisher's website. 11/03/2019
• Contract Date: Aug 5, 2016