Functional genome research – new strategies to improve fertility in cattle

Female infertility is an increasingly important problem in cattle, causing enormous costs and retarding genetic progress. Current attempts to improve fertility by genetic selection are inefficient due to the low heritability of the respective trait, i.e. the nonreturn- rate 90 days after first service (NRR 90). Thus novel phenotypic traits more closely related to fertility are urgently needed. Since a large proportion of pregnancy losses occurs in the preimplantation period, the interaction between early embryos and their maternal environment is an attractive target for systematic investigations, which may uncover mechanisms underlying early embryonic death. Based on holistic transcriptome and proteome studies we attempt to understand the quantitative biology of embryo-maternal communication and the regulation of endometrial receptivity. A short-term goal is the development of array-based systems for the differential diagnosis of fertility problems and for evaluating the connection between metabolic disturbances and reproductive functions. A long-term goal is the identification of quantitative trait loci affecting the fertility-related gene expression profiles in female reproductive tissues such as endometrium.

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