Energy and lipid metabolism gene expression of D18 embryos in dairy cows is related to dam physiological status

We analyzed the change in gene expression related to dam physiological status in day (D)18 embryos from growing heifers (GH), early lactating cows (ELC), and late lactating cows (LLC). Dam energy metabolism was characterized by measurement of circulating concentrations of insulin, glucose, IGF-1, nonesterified fatty acids, β-hydroxybutyrate, and urea before embryo flush. The metabolic parameters were related to differential gene expression in the extraembryonic tissues by correlation analysis. Embryo development estimated by measuring the length of the conceptuses and the proportion of expected D18 gastrulating stages was not different between the three groups of females. However, embryo metabolism was greatly affected by dam physiological status when we compared GH with ELC and GH with LLC but to a lesser extent when ELC was compared with LLC. Genes involved in glucose, pyruvate, and acetate utilization were upregulated in GH vs. ELC conceptuses (e.g., SLC2A1, PC, ACSS2, ACSS3). This was also true for th...