Special Issue "Maternal Nutrition and Offspring Programming: Impact on Animal Production and Performance"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Min Du
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nutrigenomics and Growth Biology Laboratory, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
Interests: meat science and muscle biology; developmental biology; nutrition and animal production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The fetal period is very important for the development of animals, because all organs and tissues are rapidly formed and developed at this stage, undergoing further growth and maturation after birth. Developing tissues and organs are most sensitive to changes in the external environment, including maternal malnutrition, which leads to poor embryonic development and limits the long-term growth performance of animals. In the early embryonic stage, both muscle cells and fat cells are developed from the mesoderm, and their common origin provides an opportunity to strengthen muscle growth instead of adipogenic differentiation, thereby enhancing the lean/fat ratio of offspring. The initial formation of muscle fibers begins at the embryonic stage and continues to the fetal stage, and then muscle growth is mainly characterized by the hypertrophy of existing muscle fibers, in which muscle satellite cells play a key role. Therefore, increasing the number of muscle fibers and satellite cell density are two key control points for promoting muscle development and enhancing lean/fat ratio. The development of fat occurs slightly later than muscle fibers during fetal development; compared to other fat depots, intramuscular adipocyte formation occurs later and continues to around weaning, which provides an opportunity to specifically promote the development of intramuscular adipocytes and marbling fat accumulation. Understanding of mechanisms linking maternal nutrition to fetal development and offspring growth performance allows us to precisely manage animals to enhance production efficiency and quality. In this issue, a number of prominent researchers working on fetal developmental programming contribute research or review articles, with the objective to provide current status and updates in fetal programming research in livestock production.

Prof. Dr. Min Du
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • gestation
  • meat
  • fetal programming
  • animal production
  • nutrition
  • quality

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Skeletal Muscle Development in Postnatal Beef Cattle Resulting from Maternal Protein Restriction during Mid-Gestation
Animals 2021, 11(3), 860; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030860 - 18 Mar 2021
Viewed by 648
Abstract
We aimed to investigate the effects of maternal protein restriction during mid-gestation on the skeletal muscle composition of the offspring. In the restriction treatment (RES, n = 9), cows were fed a basal diet, while in the control (CON, n = 9) group [...] Read more.
We aimed to investigate the effects of maternal protein restriction during mid-gestation on the skeletal muscle composition of the offspring. In the restriction treatment (RES, n = 9), cows were fed a basal diet, while in the control (CON, n = 9) group cows received the same RES diet plus the protein supplement during mid-gestation (100–200d). Samples of Longissimus dorsi muscle were collected from the offspring at 30d and 450d postnatal. Muscle fiber number was found to be decreased as a result of maternal protein restriction and persisted throughout the offspring’s life (p < 0.01). The collagen content was enhanced (p < 0.05) due to maternal protein restriction at 30d. MHC2X mRNA expression tended to be higher (p = 0.08) in RES 30d offspring, however, no difference (p > 0.05) was found among treatments at 450d. Taken together, our results suggest that maternal protein restriction during mid-gestation has major and persistent effects by reducing muscle fiber formation and may slightly increase collagen accumulation in the skeletal muscle of the offspring. Although maternal protein restriction may alter the muscle fiber metabolism by favoring the establishment of a predominant glycolytic metabolism, the postnatal environment may be a determinant factor that establishes the different proportion of muscle fiber types. Full article
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