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Effect of Exposure to Seminal Plasma Through Natural Mating in Cattle on Conceptus Length and Gene Expression
Mateo-Otero, Yentel Sánchez, José María Recuero, Sandra Bagés-Arnal, Sandra McDonald, Michael Kenny, David A. Yeste, Marc Lonergan, Pat Fernandez-Fuertes, Beatriz
Mateo-Otero, Yentel
Sánchez, José María
Recuero, Sandra
Bagés-Arnal, Sandra
McDonald, Michael
Kenny, David A.
Yeste, Marc
Lonergan, Pat
Fernandez-Fuertes, Beatriz
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2020-05-12
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Mateo-Otero Y, Sánchez JM, Recuero S, Bagés-Arnal S, McDonald M, Kenny DA, Yeste M, Lonergan P and Fernandez-Fuertes B (2020) Effect of Exposure to Seminal Plasma Through Natural Mating in Cattle on Conceptus Length and Gene Expression. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 8:341. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2020.00341
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that paternal factors have an impact on offspring
development. These studies have been mainly carried out in mice, where seminal
plasma (SP) has been shown to regulate endometrial gene expression and impact
embryo development and subsequent offspring health. In cattle, infusion of SP into
the uterus also induces changes in endometrial gene expression, however, evidence
for an effect of SP on early embryo development is lacking. In addition, during natural
mating, the bull ejaculates in the vagina; hence, it is not clear whether any SP reaches
the uterus in this species. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine whether
SP exposure leads to improved early embryo survival and developmental rates in cattle.
To this end, Day 7 in vitro produced blastocysts were transferred to heifers (12–15 per
heifer) previously mated to vasectomized bulls (n = 13 heifers) or left unmated (n = 12
heifers; control). At Day 14, heifers were slaughtered, and conceptuses were recovered
to assess size, morphology and expression of candidate genes involved in different
developmental pathways. Additionally, CL volume at Day 7, and weight and volume
of CL at Day 14 were recorded. No effect of SP on CL volume and weight not on
conceptus recovery rate was observed. However, filamentous conceptuses recovered
from SP-exposed heifers were longer in comparison to the control group and differed
in expression of CALM1, CITED1, DLD, HNRNPDL, PTGS2, and TGFB3. In conclusion,
data indicate that female exposure to SP during natural mating can affect conceptus
development in cattle. This is probably achieved through modulation of the female
reproductive environment at the time of mating.
Keywords: seminal plasma, embryo development, corpus luteum