Impacts of epigenetic processes on livestock

The active or frequent changes in the epigenome resulting from the interactions between genetic and environmental factors play crucial roles in individual growth and development. Numerous studies in plants, rodents, and humans have provided evidence on how epigenetic processes regulate health and disease. There is increasing pressure to increase livestock production in light of increasing food needs of an expanding human population amid environment challenges, but there is limited related epigenetic information on livestock to supplement genomic information and support advances in improvement breeding and health management. This review or work examines the recent discoveries on epigenetic processes due to DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin remodeling and their impacts on health and production traits in farm animals (bovine, swine, sheep, goat, and poultry species). Many of the studies examined are based on epigenome profiling or studies at the whole genome level or specific gene regions in response to developmental processes, environmental stressors, nutrition, and disease pathogens. The bulk of available data mainly characterized the epigenetic markers in tissues/organs or in relation to traits and detection of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying livestock phenotype diversity. However, the currently available epigenetic data on livestock is inadequate to support gainful exploitation of epigenetic processes for improved animal health and productivity management. Increased research efforts that are vital to reveal how epigenetic mechanisms affect the health and productivity of livestock, are currently limited due to several factors including lack of adequate analytical tools. In this work, we (1) summarize available evidence of the impacts of epigenetic processes on livestock production and health traits, (2) discuss the application of epigenetics data in livestock production, and (3) present gaps in livestock epigenetics research. Finally, knowledge of the epigenetic factors influencing livestock health and productivity is vital for the management and improvement of livestock productivity.