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From sperm to offspring: epigenetic markers for dairy herd fertility
Ying Zhang1, Marc André Sirard2
1State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation & Breeding of Grassland Livestock, Department of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China.
Abstract:
In recent years, the study of bovine sperm epigenetics has garnered increasing attention alongside research on biomarkers associated with dairy cattle fertility. Male gametes not only transmit the paternal haploid genome to the offspring through fertilization, but also convey epigenetic components, such as DNA methylation, small noncoding RNA, histone variants, and histone modifications to offspring. This epigenetic information may transmit an acquired phenotype leading to intergenerational inheritance. The ongoing worldwide decline in dairy herd fertility affecting both males and females causes significant economic losses for dairy farmers. Previous scientific efforts to address this issue primarily targeted genetic aspects, identifying numerous fertility-related quantitative trait locus and single-nucleotide polymorphisms. However, since fertility is influenced by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors, this review highlights the importance of identifying sperm epigenetic markers as additional tools for evaluating and predicting cattle fertility. Identifying bovine sperm epigenetic markers is thus urgently needed to enhance fertility assessment and mitigate global dairy herd decline and economic losses.
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