A systems biology approach to dairy cattle subfertility and infertility

Omics techniques have been widely applied to veterinary science, including reproductive disease and infertility, although their application is still far behind as compared to human medicine. This chapter presents the most recent achievement in the application of postgenomic techniques, such as transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, and how their application advanced the knowledge on genes and proteins, as well as the pathways they are involved in, related to the field of dairy cow subfertility. Focus will be on both female and male apparatus. System biology approaches to the study of gametes, including spermatozoa and seminal fluid, and ovaries, and follicular fluid, as well as the specific tissues where the gametes have origin from, namely epididymis and ovaries, will be presented. OMICS technologies were also applied to the characterization of maternal environment, such as the oviduct, uterus, and placenta, and the results were also described hereby. Omics applications to biomarker discovery and their potential for subfertility diagnostics in veterinary medicine are also highlighted.