The Effect of Poor Maternal Nutrition on the Growth and Development of Offspring

Poor maternal nutrition can have long lasting detrimental effects on offspring growth and development. Specifically, these offspring will exhibit increased carcass adiposity, reduced muscularity and altered growth rates resulting in animals that are less productive and yield a less desirable product for consumers. However, the mechanisms by which poor maternal nutrition alters offspring growth and development are not well understood. We hypothesized that maternal under- and over-nutrition will alter the expression of key genes and novel pathways involved in the development of muscle and adipose tissue of lambs at two early postnatal time points. To evaluate these hypotheses, pregnant sheep were fed 100 % [control (CON)], 60 % [restricted (RES)] or 140 % [over-fed (OVER)] of National Research Council requirements based on total digestible nutrients. One lamb from each ewe was necropsied either within 24 hour of birth or 3 months of age. RNA was isolated from adipose and muscle tissue respectively and gene expression quantified using real time RT-PCR. Alternately, transcriptome analysis was performed on isolated RNA using the Ion Torrent Proton sequencer and analyzed using the Cufflinks analysis package. Gene expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I was increase