Calf Fitness Associates with Early Embryo and Recipient Metabolomes and with Calf Epigenetic Marks.

We used metadata to explore the metabolic interplay between culture medium from in vitro-produced bovine embryos transferred fresh or frozen, recipient blood plasma, and calf fitness, alongside gene expression and methylation in calf lymphocytes. Principal component (PC) analysis (PCA) identified covariates that were depicted in Debiased Sparse Partial Correlation networks and analyzed as enriched pathways. Four PCs explained 13.77, 9.58, 7.73 and 5.84% variability. PC1 clustered only mother weight and two embryonic metabolites. PC2, PC3 and PC4 associated 10, 17, and 5 calf features with 10, 6, and 16 embryonic and 2, 20, and 5 recipient metabolites, respectively. Subsequently, gene methylation and expression, and calf fitness were analyzed by PCA. Three PCs covered 100% variability. PC1 associated acid-base balance, protein metabolism, Cl, and Ca with and expression, and and methylation. PC2 linked expression and methylation with growth and biochemical traits. PC3 clustered growth, hydration, and redox balance, with , , and methylation, and , , and expression. Gene methylation connected with embryo metabolites through networks via K, Cl, HCO and TCO. Calf fitness parallels the early metabolic fingerprints of the embryo and recipient, allowing embryo transfer decision-making based on calf health.