Developmental Programming and Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Cattle

The objective was to analyze the nature of developmental programming, the characteristics of some assisted reproductive technologies, and the importance of their relationship on the expression of important productive traits in the resultant offspring in cattle. Developmental programming refers to the phenomenon by which organisms during gestation are prepared to have a phenotype that fits better to the environment present once they are born. However, cattle are commonly exposed to conditions like undernutrition or heat stress that might program a phenotype in the opposite direction according to common objectives of productive systems like greater beef or milk production per animal unit. Mechanisms for developmental programming involve changes in epigenetic marks like DNA methylation, which regulates chromatin accessibility, gene expression, and consequently, organisms’ physical and physiological status. Embryos experience extensive changes in epigenetics marks and, therefore, are highly susceptible to developmental programming. Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) are valuable tools for genetic improvement programs in cattle and normally involve the manipulation of gametes and embryos under non-natural environmental conditions. Therefore, animals derived from ART might express undesirable phenotypes like a reduction in their productivity. However, recent studies suggest that productive traits might also be positively programmed in ART-derived embryos if appropriate conditions or signals are provided.