Tissue Expression Profiles of 5 Putative Imprinted Genes in Bovine Chromosome 29

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic process that regulates gene expression in the mammalian genome. Although there are specific imprinting differences between the mammalian species, cattle present unique opportunity for characterizing imprinted genes because of its sub-species classification. Five putative imprinted genes (TSSC4, CDKN1C, KCNQ1, PHLDA2 and NAP1L4) on bovine chromosome 29 (Bta 29) which had been characterized to have promoter CGI were quantitatively assayed for their relative expression across eight tissues (muscle, brain, liver, kidney, spinal cord, heart, lymph and skin) sampled in Angus cattle. The differential abundance of these genes in muscle and skin tissues of Angus, White Fulani and N’Dama cattle breeds was comparatively analyzed. These three breeds are representative of the Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle sub-species while the two tissues are selected based on their strategic economic importance in cattle production. All the genes, except TSSC4, were relatively expressed across all the tissues. It was observed that Angus had the highest differential abundance in muscle tissues for TSSC4, PHLDA2 and NAP1L4 while N’Dama and White Fulani were the most abundant for KCNQ1 and NAP1L4 in skin tissues. The study identified marked differences in the expression profiles of the genes in both muscle and skin tissues of the three breeds that were characteristics of their genetics, environment and nutrition.