Significance: Consequences of heat stress, particularly for the immune system and the intestinal health of mammals, are a topic of increasing global relevance due to rising temperatures and potential health impairments. Specific climate effects, however, are often difficult to discriminate from indirect consequences, e.g. reduced feed intake. Our study in dairy cattle, which are particularly sensitive to heat, identifies the infiltration of the small intestinal epithelium by a previously unobserved distinct cell population with macrophage-like phenotype in response to moderate heat stress. By using a pair-feeding design, we attributed these effects as direct consequences of heat stress via impaired intestinal barrier function. Therefore, an appropriate gut function is an important component in combating the negative consequences of heat stress.

Deep RNA sequencing (RNAseq) has opened a new horizon for understanding global gene expression. The functional annotation of non-model mammalian genomes including bovines is still poor compared to that of human and mouse. This particularly applies to tissues without direct significance for milk and meat production, like skin, in spite of its multifunctional relevance for the individual. Thus, applying an RNAseq approach, we performed a whole transcriptome analysis of pigmented and nonpigmented bovine skin to describe the comprehensive transcript catalogue of this tissue.

The increasing evidence of fetal developmental effects on postnatal life, the still unknown fetal growth mechanisms impairing offspring generated by somatic nuclear transfer techniques, and the impact on stillbirth and dystocia in conventional reproduction have generated increasing attention toward mammalian fetal growth. We identified a highly significant quantitative trait locus (QTL) affecting fetal growth on bovine chromosome 6 in a specific resource population, which was set up by consistent use of embryo transfer and foster mothers and, thus, enabled dissection of fetal-specific genetic components of fetal growth. Merging our data with results from other cattle populations differing in historical and geographical origin and with comparative data from human whole-genome association mapping suggests that a nonsynonymous polymorphism in the non-SMC condensin I complex, subunit G (NCAPG) gene, NCAPG c.1326T>G, is the potential cause of the identified QTL resulting in divergent bovine fetal growth. NCAPG gene expression data in fetal placentomes with different NCAPG c.1326T>G genotypes, which are in line with recent results about differential NCAPG expression in placentomes from studies on assisted reproduction techniques, indicate that the NCAPG locus may give valuable information on the specific mechanisms regulating fetal growth in mammals.

A whole-genome scan to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for functional traits was performed in the German Holstein cattle population. For this purpose, 263 genetic markers across all autosomes and the pseudoautosomal region of the sex chromosomes were genotyped in 16 granddaughter-design families with 872 sons. The traits investigated were deregressed breedingvalues for maternal and direct effects on dystocia (DYSm, DYSd) and stillbirth (STIm, STId) as well as maternal and paternal effects on nonreturn rates of 90 d (NR90m, NR90p). Furthermore, deregressed breeding values for functional herd life (FHL) and daughter yield deviation for somatic cell count (SCC) were investigated. Weighted multimarker regression analyses across families and permutation tests were applied for the detection of QTL and the calculation of statistical significance. A ten percent genomewise significant QTL was localized for DYSm on chromosome 8 and for SCC on chromosome 18. A further 24 putative QTL exceeding the 5% chromosomewise threshold were detected. On chromosomes 7, 8, 10, 18, and X/Yps, coincidence of QTL for several traits was observed. Our results suggest that loci with influence on udder health may also contribute to genetic variance of longevity. Prior to implementation of these QTL in marker assisted selection programs for functional traits, information about direct and correlated effects of these QTL as well as fine mapping of their chromosomal positions is required.

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) for milk fat percentage has been mapped consistently to the centromeric region of bovine chromosome 14 (BTA14). Two independent studies have identified the nonconservative mutation K232A in the acylCoA-diacylglycerol-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene as likely to be causal for the observed variation. Here we provide evidence for additional genetic variability at the same QTL that is associated with milk fat percentage variation within the German Holstein population. Namely, we show that alleles of the DGAT1 promoter derived from the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism are associated with milk fat content in animals homozygous for the allele 232A at DGAT1. Our results present another example for more than two trait-associated alleles being involved in a major gene effect on a quantitative trait. The segregation of multiple alleles affecting milk production traits at the QTL on BTA14 has to be considered whenever marker-assisted selection programs are implemented in dairy cattle. Due to the presence of a potential transcription factor binding site in the 18mer element of the VNTR, the variation in the number of tandem repeats of the 18mer element might be causal for the variability in the transcription level of the DGAT1 gene.

Several studies in a variety of breeds have reported at least two QTL for milk production traits, including milk fat synthesis on bovine chromosome 6 (BTA6), comprising a region that comparatively has been mapped to equivalent syntenic chromosome intervals in human, pig, and mouse harboring loci associated with type II diabetes and obesity-related traits. We identified the bovine peroxysome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α gene (PPARGC1A) as a plausible positional and functional candidate gene for a previously described QTL for milk fat yield on BTA6 because of its chromosomal position and its key role in energy, fat, and glucose metabolism. To analyze the role of the bovine PPARGC1A gene in regulation of milk fat synthesis in dairy cattle, we determined its cDNA sequence, genomic organization, chromosomal localization, and expression pattern. The bovine PPARGC1A gene is organized in 13 exons comprising 6,261 bp and is expressed at different levels in a large number of tissues. Bovine PPARGC1A cDNA and protein sequences showed substantial similarity (92–95%) to its respective orthologs from human, rat, and mouse. Screening for polymorphisms in the coding sequence, exon/intron boundaries, 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions, and promoter region of the PPARGC1A gene in sires with a different genotype at the QTL for milk fat yield as well as in a multibreed panel revealed a total of 11 polymorphic loci. A significant association between an SNP in intron 9 of the PPARGC1A gene and milk fat yield was observed in a major dairy cattle population, indicating that the PPARGC1A gene could be involved in genetic variation underlying the QTL for milk fat synthesis on BTA6.