College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Jiangsu Jinghai Poultry Group Co., Ltd., Nantong 226100, China.
Genes (Basel). 2019 Jul 17;10(7):539. doi: 10.3390/genes10070539.
The growth traits are important traits in chickens. Compared to white feather broiler breeds, Chinese local broiler breeds have a slow growth rate. The main genes affecting the growth traits of local chickens in China are still unclear and need to be further explored. This experiment used fast-growth and slow-growth groups of the Jinghai Yellow chicken as the research objects. Three males and three females with similar body weights were selected from the two groups at four weeks old and eight weeks old, respectively, with a total of 24 individuals selected. After slaughter, their chest muscles were taken for transcriptome sequencing. In the differentially expressed genes screening, all of the genes obtained were screened by fold change ≥ 2 and false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05. For four-week-old chickens, a total of 172 differentially expressed genes were screened in males, where there were 68 upregulated genes and 104 downregulated genes in the fast-growth group when compared with the slow-growth group. A total of 31 differentially expressed genes were screened in females, where there were 11 upregulated genes and 20 downregulated genes in the fast-growth group when compared with the slow-growth group. For eight-week-old chickens, a total of 37 differentially expressed genes were screened in males. The fast-growth group had 28 upregulated genes and 9 downregulated genes when compared with the slow-growth group. A total of 44 differentially expressed genes were screened in females. The fast-growth group had 13 upregulated genes and 31 downregulated genes when compared with the slow-growth group. Through gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, many genes were found to be related to cell proliferation and differentiation, muscle growth, and cell division such as , , , , , etc. Real-time PCR results were consistent with the RNA-Seq data and validated the findings. The results of this study will help to understand the regulation mechanism of the growth and development of Jinghai Yellow chicken and provide a theoretical basis for improving the growth rate of Chinese local chicken breeds.
生长性状是鸡的重要性状。与白羽肉鸡品种相比，中国地方肉鸡品种生长速度较慢。影响中国地方鸡生长性状的主要基因仍不清楚，需要进一步探索。本实验以快速生长和慢速生长的京海黄鸡为研究对象。分别在 4 周龄和 8 周龄时从两组中选择体重相近的 3 只公鸡和 3 只母鸡，共选择 24 只个体。屠宰后取其胸肌进行转录组测序。在差异表达基因筛选中，所有获得的基因均通过 fold change≥2 和错误发现率（FDR）<0.05 进行筛选。对于 4 周龄的鸡，雄性共筛选出 172 个差异表达基因，其中快速生长组相对于慢速生长组有 68 个上调基因和 104 个下调基因。雌性共筛选出 31 个差异表达基因，其中快速生长组相对于慢速生长组有 11 个上调基因和 20 个下调基因。对于 8 周龄的鸡，雄性共筛选出 37 个差异表达基因。快速生长组相对于慢速生长组有 28 个上调基因和 9 个下调基因。雌性共筛选出 44 个差异表达基因。快速生长组相对于慢速生长组有 13 个上调基因和 31 个下调基因。通过基因本体（GO）富集分析和京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）分析，发现许多基因与细胞增殖和分化、肌肉生长和细胞分裂等有关，如 、 、 、 等。实时 PCR 结果与 RNA-Seq 数据一致，验证了这一发现。本研究结果有助于了解京海黄鸡生长发育的调控机制，为提高中国地方鸡种生长速度提供理论依据。
