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Consequences of gene editing of PRLR on thermotolerance, growth, and male reproduction in cattle


Abstract Global warming is a major challenge to the sustainable and humane production of food because of the increased risk of livestock to heat stress. Here, the example of the prolactin receptor ( PRLR ) gene is used to demonstrate how gene editing can increase the resistance of cattle to heat stress by the introduction of mutations conferring thermotolerance. Several cattle populations in South and Central America possess natural mutations in PRLR that result in affected animals having short hair and being thermotolerant. CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used to introduce variants of PRLR in two thermosensitive breeds of cattle – Angus and Jersey. Gene‐edited animals exhibited superior ability to regulate vaginal temperature (heifers) and rectal temperature (bulls) compared to animals that were not gene‐edited. Moreover, gene‐edited animals exhibited superior growth characteristics and had larger scrotal circumference. There was no evidence for deleterious effects of the mutation on carcass characteristics or male reproductive function. These results indicate the potential for reducing heat stress in relevant environments to enhance cattle productivity.
Authors Camila J. Cuellar ORCID , Thiago Fernandes Amaral ORCID , Paula Rodríguez-González ORCID , Felipe Ledur Ongaratto ORCID , Delphine Martinez ORCID , Rémi Labrecque ORCID , João Diego de Agostini Losano ORCID , E. Estrada-Cortes ORCID , Jonathan R. Bostrom ORCID , Kyra Martins ORCID , Owen Rae ORCID , J. Block University of WyomingORCID , Quinn A. Hoorn ORCID , Bradford W. Daigneault ORCID , John R. Merriam , Michael Lohuis ORCID , Serdal Dikmen ORCID , J.H.J. Bittar ORCID , Tatiane S Maia ORCID , Daniel F. Carlson ORCID , Sabreena Larson , Tad S. Sonstegard ORCID , Peter J. Hansen ORCID
Journal Info Wiley | FASEB BioAdvances
Publication Date 6/18/2024
ISSN 2573-9832
TypeKeyword Image article
Open Access gold Gold Access
DOI https://doi.org/10.1096/fba.2024-00029
KeywordsKeyword Image Plant Breeding (Score: 0.51646)