The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma is regarded as a "master regulator" of adipocyte differentiation in mammals. The current study was designed to investigate the function and regulatory mechanism of PPARgamma in chicken adipogenesis by RNA interference. Preadipocytes were isolated from the abdominal fat tissue of 12-d-old chickens and cultured. Small-interference PPARgamma RNA (siPPARgamma) was synthesized by in vitro transcription and transfected into chicken preadipocytes by using liposomes. The suppressive effect of siPPARgamma was detected by real-time reverse-transcription PCR and reverse-transcription PCR. The results showed that transient transfection with siPPARgamma significantly inhibited differentiation and enhanced proliferation of chicken preadipocytes (P < 0.05). The adipogenesis-associated adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein gene was down-regulated when PPARgamma was silenced. The current work indicates that PPARgamma is a key regulator of chicken preadipocyte differentiation.