CHANGES IN A MOTHER'S ENVIRONMENT DURING PREGNANCY CAN HAVE LASTING EFFECTS ON HER OFFSPRING. GIVING PREGNANT BEEF AND DAIRY COWS A SPECIAL FORM OF METHIONINE HAS BEEN LINKED TO SOME INTERESTING OUTCOMES, SUCH AS CHANGES IN HOW BOVINE EMBRYOS DEVELOP, DIFFERENCES BASED ON THE SEX OF THE OFFSPRING, HEAVIER BIRTH WEIGHTS FOR MALES, AND MORE WEIGHT IN FEMALE CALVES AS THEY REACH PUBERTY. HOWEVER, IT'S STILL NOT COMPLETELY CLEAR WHETHER THESE CHANGES ARE MAINLY DUE TO SHIFTS IN DNA CAUSED BY THE METHIONINE SUPPLEMENTS GIVEN DURING EARLY PREGNANCY.THIS PROJECT HAS TWO MAIN GOALS: FIRST, TO SEE IF THE DNA AND GENE ACTIVITY OF BOVINE EMBRYOS CHANGE WHEN WE PRODUCE THEM USING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF METHIONINE IN THE LAB; AND SECOND, TO FIND OUT IF GIVING COWS A SPECIFIC AMOUNT OF RP-MET CAN CHANGE THE LEVELS OF CERTAIN SUBSTANCES IN THE FLUID OF THE UTERUS. WE WILL USE A MIX OF TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING STUDYING METABOLITES, GENE ACTIVITY, AND EPIGENETICS, TO EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS.THE OUTCOMES OF THIS RESEARCH WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR COW/CALF OPERATIONS. THE ECONOMICS OF COW/CALF OPERATIONS ARE DRIVEN BY PREGNANCY SUCCESS AND THE QUALITY OF THE FINISHING PRODUCT, WHICH IN THE CASE OF THE COW/CALF INDUSTRY IS THE WEANED CALF. THEREFORE, THE INDUSTRY NEEDS TO FIND ALTERNATIVES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE WEANED CALF.