Yin Zhaozheng, Zhou Wei, Mao Haiguang, Dong Xinyang, Huang Xuan, Zhang Haiyang, Liu Honghua
College of Animal Science, Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Apr 20;12(9):1061. doi: 10.3390/ani12091061.
The improvements in muscle growth rate and meat quality are the major breeding aims in pigeon industry. Liver and muscle are recognized as important sites for fatty acid metabolism; understanding the role of specific transcripts in the breast muscle and liver might lead to the elucidation of interrelated biological processes. In this study, RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) was applied to compare the transcriptomes of breast muscle and liver tissues among pigeons at five developmental periods (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks post-hatching) to identify candidate genes related to muscle growth and lipid metabolism. There were 3142 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in the breast muscle libraries; 1794 genes were up-regulated while 1531 genes were down-regulated. A total of 1323 DEGs were acquired from the liver libraries, with 791 up-regulated genes and 591 down-regulated genes. By pathway enrichment analysis, a set of significantly enriched pathways were identified for the DEGs, which are potentially involved in cell proliferation and differentiation, lipid metabolism and energy metabolism in pigeon breast muscle and liver. Our results are consistent with previous partial reports from domestic animals and poultry and provide some unidentified genes involved in muscle growth and lipid metabolism. The reliability of the sequencing data was verified through qPCR analysis of 16 genes from eight comparison groups (two genes per group). The findings from this study could contribute to future investigations of muscle growth and lipid metabolism mechanisms and establish molecular approaches to improve muscle growth rate and meat quality in domestic pigeon breeding.
肌肉生长速率和肉质的改善是鸽子养殖业的主要育种目标。肝脏和肌肉被认为是脂肪酸代谢的重要场所；了解特定转录本在胸肌和肝脏中的作用可能有助于阐明相关的生物学过程。在本研究中，应用RNA测序（RNA-Seq）比较了五个发育时期（孵化后0、1、2、3、4周）鸽子胸肌和肝脏组织的转录组，以鉴定与肌肉生长和脂质代谢相关的候选基因。在胸肌文库中鉴定出3142个差异表达基因（DEG）；1794个基因上调，1531个基因下调。从肝脏文库中总共获得1323个DEG，其中791个基因上调，591个基因下调。通过通路富集分析，为DEG鉴定出一组显著富集的通路，这些通路可能参与鸽子胸肌和肝脏中的细胞增殖和分化、脂质代谢和能量代谢。我们的结果与之前家畜和家禽的部分报道一致，并提供了一些参与肌肉生长和脂质代谢的未知基因。通过对八个比较组（每组两个基因）的16个基因进行qPCR分析，验证了测序数据的可靠性。本研究结果有助于未来对肌肉生长和脂质代谢机制的研究，并为改善家鸽育种中的肌肉生长速率和肉质建立分子方法。
