EFFECTS OF MATERNAL SUPPLEMENTATION OF VITAMIN A DURING LATE GESTATION ON INTRAMUSCULAR FAT DEPOSITION IN THE OFFSPRING

• Grant number: 23/16301-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: November 27, 2024
• End date: May 26, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Luis Artur Loyola Chardulo
• Grantee: Juliana Akamine Torrecilhas
• Supervisor: Marcio de Souza Duarte
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Guelph, Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/10240-8 - EFFECTS OF GROWTH RATE ON CARCASS AND MEAT QUALITY TRAITS OF NELLORE CATTLE SUBMITTED TO EARLY-WEANING: AN OMICS APPROACH, BP.PD

Abstract

The palatability of beef is primarily influenced by tenderness and flavor, with flavor being associated with intramuscular fat (marbling) in beef. Some nutritional strategies, such use vitamin A, that improve marbling throughout an animal's life, are being used. Vitamin A plays a significant role in marbling deposition. In addition, fetal programming studies have shown that maternal nutrition during gestation impacts offspring development and meat quality. Maternal nutrition during gestation can influence skeletal muscle development in the fetus, involving the formation of muscle fibers, intramuscular adipocytes, and fibroblasts. Thus, our objective is investigate the effect of maternal vitamin A supplementation during late gestation on intramuscular adipogenesis and marbling deposition in the offspring. At 190 days of gestation a total of 30 pregnant cows (sired from a single bull) will be randomly assigned to two experimental treatments: CONTROL (basal diet without additional vitamin A, n = 15); SUPPLEMENTED (basal diet with additional vitamin A, n = 15; Figure 2). In both treatments the same basal diet will be applied. After parturition, calves will be biopsied to collect skeletal muscle samples in order to quantify abundance of markers that indicate pre-adipocytes and progenitor cells density in skeletal muscle tissue.