14 Effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation fed to F0 beef heifers throughout pregnancy on hepatic gene expression of the F2 generation

Abstract Supplementing pregnant F0 beef heifers with vitamins and minerals throughout pregnancy has been shown to alter development of F1 offspring, but questions of whether outcomes persist across generations remain. In this study, F0 dams were managed on one of two dietary treatments throughout pregnancy: 1) basal diet (CON, n = 7), or 2) basal diet with vitamin and mineral supplement (VTM, n = 8). At parturition, F1 heifers were managed as a single group throughout the experiment. All F1 heifers were bred via artificial insemination using female-sexed semen from a single sire and confirmed pregnant with female calf. At d 250 of gestation, F1 dams were harvested for collection of F2 fetal liver samples. Liver tissues from F2 fetuses underwent total RNA isolation and sequencing. After data quality control, reads were mapped using the STAR aligner and final statistical analyses were conducted with R (v4.4.2). Through differential expression analysis with DESeq2, we identified 269 differentially expressed genes (P- value ≤ 0.05 and |log2FC| ≥ 0.5). The most prevalent affected genes included SHH, EDN1, LEF1, SFRP1, ESR1, AR, and BMP7, which are involved in key biological pathways related to hepatic function – including energy metabolism, lipid biosynthesis, and liver health; as well as muscle function – particularly satellite cell proliferation critical for postnatal muscle growth and skeletal tissue regeneration. These findings suggest that providing vitamin and mineral supplementation to F0 dams during pregnancy induces effects on the F2 generation, including greater expression of genes that may enhance hepatocyte development and myocyte proliferation. (Supported by the USDA 2022-67016-36479).