Different approaches have been used to study milk related traits in farm animals, reaching from statistical dissection of phenotypic variation to the search of candidate genes with major phenotypic effects. The aim of this study was to develop a new research tool devoted to in vitro studies of physiological pathways responsible for mammary gland development, lactation, remodeling and immune response, supported by a user friendly map based bioinformatics tool for integration of different types of data. We established goat mammary gland derived primary epithelial cell line with predominantly epithelial morphology, responsive to lactogenic hormones and exhibiting regeneration potential in heterologous mouse system. The response of primary epithelial cells to pathogenic bacterium Mycoplasma agalactiae was studied using RNA sequencing approach and 1553 differentially expressed genes were detected 24h post infection. The majority of differentially expressed genes belonged to cell cycle regulating genes, pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and genes involved in lipid metabolism. Bioinformatic analysis of 359 putative target sites for mammary gland expressed miRNAs revealed polymorphic miRNA target sites for bta-miR-199b, -199a-5p, and -361 in the IL1B gene and for -miR-126 in the CYP11B1 gene. Graphical integration of different types of data to DairyVis platform allowed identification of genomic regions with higher number of potential functional elements that deserve further experimental analysis. The newly developed MEC line and integration of bioinformatics tools into DairyVis database represent a promising methodological support for further research in the field of lactation biology.

lactation; mammary gland biology; QTL; RNAi; RNA sequencing; stem cell; visualization of genomic data

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia