College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1598
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item Seasonal Variation in Goat's Milk Composition and Its Effect on Cheese Quality(2021) Wimsatt, Stratton Thomas; Tikekar, Rohan V; Food Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The composition of goat cheese was evaluated over a 12-month period to evaluate the influence of seasonal variation in goats’ milk composition on variation in yield and composition of cheeses. Milk analysis included total fat, nonfat solids, and total protein. Yield was significantly correlated with milk composition. Cheese analysis included moisture content, water activity, crude lipid content, and ash content. Goat’s milk was found to have significant variation in all parameters between seasons, with peak content in winter months. Significant differences were found in the compositions of cheeses, although not all followed the seasonal trends observed in milk. Correlations between milk and cheese compositions were evaluated but not found to be significant. Finally, an in-house environmental monitoring plan for Listeria spp. was evaluated using Hygiena® swabs. The in-house method was accurate in 78% of samples with no instances of false negatives.Item Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of goat skins identifies signatures associated with hair cycling(Springer Nature, 2018-08-28) Li, Chao; Li, Yan; Zhou, Guangxian; Gao, Ye; Ma, Sen; Chen, Yulin; Song, Jiuzhou; Wang, XiaolongHair follicles (HFs), upon development, undergo repetitive cycles of growth (anagen), regression (catagen), and rest (telogen). The transition between the stages is determined by multiple molecular signals, including DNA methylation, which plays important roles in mammalian cellular identity and is essential for the development of HFs. Secondary hair follicles (SHFs) in cashmere goat exhibit classic cyclic hair development, and little has been done on a genome-wide scale to examine potentially methylated genes involved in the hair cyclic transition. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiles between skin tissues sampled during the anagen and telogen stages in cashmere goats were investigated using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS). The methylation status was observed to be higher in the skin samples with HFs in the telogen than those in the anagen stage. A total of 1311 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified between the two groups, which contained 493 fully annotated DMR-related genes (DMGs) (269 Hyper- DMGs and 224 Hypo-DMGs). Furthermore, a significant over-representation of the functional categories for DMGs related to immune response and intercellular crosstalk during hair cycling was observed. By integrating DNA methylation and mRNA expression data, we revealed that four genes (FMN1, PCOLCE, SPTLC3, and COL5A1) are crucial factors for elucidating epigenetic mechanisms contributing to the telogen-to-anagen transition. Our study provided systematic methylome maps pertaining to the hair cycling stages (anagen vs telogen) at a single-base resolution, and revealed stage-specific methylation loci during cashmere growth or quiescence. Furthermore, we identified epigenetically regulated genes that are potentially involved in HF development and growth in cashmere goats, and likely in other mammal species.