Wang Yongli, Liu Lu, Liu Xiaojing, Tan Xiaodong, Zhu Yuting, Luo Na, Zhao Guiping, Cui Huanxian, Wen Jie
State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Key Laboratory of Animal (Poultry) Genetics Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
College of Animal Science and Technology, College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China.
Biology (Basel). 2022 Oct 22;11(11):1547. doi: 10.3390/biology11111547.
Triglyceride (TG) content in chicken muscle tissue signifies intramuscular fat (IMF) content, which is important for improving meat quality. However, the genetic basis of TG deposition in chicken is still unclear. Using 520 chickens from an artificially selected line with significantly increased IMF content and a control line, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with TG content reports a region of 802 Kb located in chromosome 1. The XP-EHH and gene expression analysis together reveal that the solute carrier family 16 member A7 (SLC16A7) gene is the key candidate gene associated with TG content in chicken muscle tissue. Furthermore, the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) confirmed the regulatory effects of SLC16A7 on promoting TG deposition by de novo lipogenesis (DNL). Functional verification of SLC16A7 in vitro also supports this view, and reveals that this effect mainly occurs in myocytes. Our data highlight a potential IMF deposition pathway by DNL, induced by SLC16A7 in chicken myocytes. These findings will improve the understanding of IMF regulation in chicken and guide the formulation of breeding strategies for high-quality chicken.
鸡肌肉组织中的甘油三酯（TG）含量代表肌内脂肪（IMF）含量，这对改善肉质很重要。然而，鸡中TG沉积的遗传基础仍不清楚。利用来自一个IMF含量显著增加的人工选择品系的520只鸡和一个对照品系，一项关于TG含量的全基因组关联研究（GWAS）报告了位于1号染色体上一个802 Kb的区域。XP-EHH和基因表达分析共同表明，溶质载体家族16成员A7（SLC16A7）基因是与鸡肌肉组织中TG含量相关的关键候选基因。此外，加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）证实了SLC16A7通过从头脂肪生成（DNL）促进TG沉积的调控作用。SLC16A7在体外的功能验证也支持这一观点，并表明这种作用主要发生在心肌细胞中。我们的数据突出了一条由鸡心肌细胞中的SLC16A7诱导的通过DNL进行IMF沉积的潜在途径。这些发现将增进对鸡IMF调控的理解，并指导优质鸡育种策略的制定。
