TITLE:
Functional Genes in Relation to Residual Feed Intake in Murrah Buffalo Heifers
AUTHORS:
Poonam Sikka, Shyam Sunder Paul, Andonissamy Jerome, Dwijesh Mishra, Krishna Kumar Chaturvedi, Inderjeet Singh, Anil Rai
KEYWORDS:
Bubalus bubalis, Feed Efficiency, Residual Feed Intake, Blood Transcriptome, Differentially Expressed Genes
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology,
Vol.14 No.4,
April
28,
2023
ABSTRACT: High Feed efficiency (FE) in growing heifers has economic importance in dairy,
but remains less understood in buffaloes. Feed conversion efficiency is defined
as dry matter intake (DMI) per unit body weight gain and is determined as
residual feed intake (RFI), i.e., the difference between actual and predicted feed intake
to gain unit body weight during a feed trial run for 78 days under control
feeding. A large variation was identified ranging between -0.42 to 0.35 in
growing buffalo heifers (n = 40) of age
between 11 to 15 months. An average daily weight gain (ADG) varied between
382.0 and 807.6 g/day when compared with the control-fed heifers at an organized buffalo farm. The whole blood transcriptome data obtained from the
selected growing heifers from extremes of estimated high and low RFI efficiency
were compared with the reference assembly generated from the transcriptome of
multiparous buffaloes (n = 16) of diverse age of maturity, period of regaining
post partum cyclicity and level of milk production.
Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using the reference genome of Mediterranean water buffalo. GO:
terms (Padj 0.05, FDR 0.05)
enriched by annotated DEGs and biological pathways in gene network for RFI
efficiency trait were identified. GO: terms
specific to pre-transcriptional regulation of nucleus and Chromatin
organization under Nucleoplasm, Energy balancing, Immunity, Cell signaling, ROS
optimization, ATP generation through the Electron
Transport chain and cell proliferation were determined. The study reveals the indicators targeting the actual
metabolic changes and molecular functions underlying the feed utilization
capacity of buffaloes. Estimated RFI efficiency revealed a large variation over
heifers which may lower the DMI even up to 13.6%
thus, enabling an increase
in ADG up to 16% by involving efficient heifers in breeding
plan. The study revealed a scope of high gain by selective
breeding for FE in heifers. FE variants catalogued in the study are useful breed-specific
RFI markers for future reference. The study contributes to
the understanding of feed efficiency in buffaloes and its association with key
interactive traits such as reproduction and growth. This knowledge can be
utilized to develop more effective breeding programs.