Bioscientifica Proceedings

In swine and other livestock, the uterine endometrium exhibits dramatic morphological and secretory changes throughout the oestrous cycle and during pregnancy. Such physiological changes are a reflection of extremely complex interactions between gene products (RNA and protein). The recent development of genomics and proteomics methods, as well as associated bioinformatics tools, has provided the means to begin characterising such interactions. Indeed, the analysis of the...

The effects of acute changes in dietary intake on ovarian activity can be correlated with changes in circulating concentrations of metabolic hormones including insulin, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), growth hormone and leptin. There is no corresponding change in circulating gonadotrophin concentrations and it is proposed that the dietary induced changes in ovarian activity, resulting from acute changes in dietary intake, are a result of direct actions of these metabolic...

The two types of cells that make up the cumulus-oocyte complex (i.e. the oocyte and cumulus cells) have very different metabolic demands, with glucose occupying a central role in metabolic activity. Cumulus cells have a significant requirement for and utilise high levels of glucose, yet appear to have little need for oxidative metabolism. In contrast, oocytes have a requirement for oxidative metabolism, although limited glucose metabolism may also be an important aspect of mei...

Summary. Limiting the abundance of free-ranging ungulate populations is a significant issue for natural resource managers in many areas of North America. Hunting and culling have traditionally been used to regulate wild animal numbers but there are a growing number of circumstances where these methods pose significant legal, ethical, and ecological challenges, and resource managers often seek alternative approaches to population control. Decreasing fertility o...

With the advent of next generation sequencing platforms (RNA-seq), transcriptional profiling permits the characterization of millions of RNAs from even the most limiting samples like early embryos. High-throughput RNA-seq can generate over 600 gigabases (Gb) in a single sequencing run, providing a near-complete record of all of the genes expressed in a sample at the time of collection. Condensing and finding coherence in the immense amount of raw data generated by transc...

Ovarian follicular growth and development is an integrated process encompassing both extraovarian signals, such as gonadotrophins and metabolic hormones, and intraovarian factors. Follicular development has been classified into gonadotrophin-independent and -dependent phases. In the latter, FSH provides the primary drive for follicular recruitment and LH is required for continued development of follicles to the preovulatory stage. A transient increase in circulating FSH preced...

Uterine differentiation in cattle and sheep begins prenatally, but is completed postnatally. Mechanisms regulating this process are not well defined. However, studies of urogenital tract development in murine systems, particularly those involving tissue recombination and targeted gene mutation, indicate that the ideal uterine organizational programme evolves epigenetically through dynamic cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions that define the microenvironmental conte...

Reproductive function is an integrated process encompassing both extraovarian signals, such as gonadotrophins, and intrafollicular factors, such as locally produced growth factors. Initiation of primordial follicle growth and the early stages of folliculogenesis can occur without gonadotrophins. However, in vivo and in vitro studies indicate that FSH may stimulate the rate of preantral follicle growth and that it can take only 3 months for a primordial follic...