The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) was awarded a $640,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program.
The four-year project aims to understand the mechanisms that mediate gene expression and milk production in the mammary gland of dairy cows. Researchers will study the roles of transcription factors such as STAT5 in regulating gene expression during lactation. They will determine if STAT5 and other selected factors bind to milk production genes in the cow mammary gland. Researchers will also assess the effects of modulating STAT5 and other factors on milk production processes in mammary epithelial cell models. Additionally, they will evaluate the functional importance of DNA regions bound by STAT5 for expression of milk casein protein genes. Studies will utilize techniques including CRISPR/Cas9 and be conducted in both animal and cell culture models. Insights gained could inform strategies to improve milk production efficiency and composition in dairy cows.
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