在家猪饲养过程中，饲料中存在的赤霉烯酮等霉菌毒素可直接或间接妨害母猪甚至胎猪的繁殖能力。作为一种主要的霉菌毒素，赤霉烯酮及其衍生物可以竞争性抑制雌激素与雌激素受体的结合，从而影响母猪的繁殖性能和胎猪生殖细胞的发育。本项目利用动物实验和细胞体外培养模型相结合的方法，研究赤霉烯酮剂量与妊娠母猪血液雌激素的竞争效应和作用关系，从内分泌角度探索赤霉烯酮通过妊娠母猪影响胎猪卵母细胞早期发生的分子途径，证实赤霉烯酮对母猪繁殖性能的危害及其跨代效应；深入分析赤霉烯酮通过妊娠母猪对胎猪雌性生殖细胞减数分裂启动、基因组甲基化印迹的擦除与重建、同源染色体重组、DNA损伤修复以及原始卵泡形成等卵母细胞早期发育过程的影响，并阐述赤霉烯酮损害母猪生殖系统的分子和表观机制以及跨代遗传效应。本项目的研究结果将为母猪生产和繁殖提供有益的理论借鉴，防止母猪繁殖力降低，促进母猪健康养殖。

In hog production, it is almost impossible to avoid the existence of mycotoxins in feeds which directly or indirectly impair sow productivity. As one of major mycotoxins, zearalenone (ZON) and its derivatives competitively inhibit the binding of estrogen to its receptor. This project aims to investigate the dose effect of ZON and its competition with estrogen in blood, the mechanisms by which ZON impairs the endocrine system, the injury of ZON to reproductive performance, and to examine the effects of ZON on fetal early oogenesis and primordial follicle assembly. The impact of ZON on the erasure and establishment of oocyte genomic imprinting, homologous recombination of chromosomes and DNA damage repair will also be investigated. Furthermore, our study will elucidate the molecular and epigenetic mechanisms that underly the ZON effects on the estrogen and estrogen downstream signal pathways. The project will also address the influence of ZON on the reproductive capability in pregnant swine, and more importantly, whether the ZON effects are inherited by offsprings. The findings may provide a beneficial and theoretical guide to the swine industry to help prevent reproductive performance loses and improve sow breeding.