Ji Gaige, Zhang Ming, Ju Xiaojun, Liu Yifan, Shan Yanju, Tu Yunjie, Zou Jianmin, Shu Jingting, Li Hua, Zhao Weidong
Key Laboratory for Poultry Genetics and Breeding of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Institute of Poultry Science, Yangzhou 225125, China.
School of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan 528231, China.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Sep 18;14(18):2702. doi: 10.3390/ani14182702.
The pectoral muscle is an important component of skeletal muscle. The blackness of pectoral muscles can directly affect the economic value of black-boned chickens. Although the genes associated with melanogenesis in mammals and birds have been thoroughly investigated, only little is known about the key genes involved in muscle hyperpigmentation during embryonic development. Here, we analyzed melanin deposition patterns in the pectoral muscle of Yugan black-boned chickens and compared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the muscles of Wenchang (non-black-boned chickens) and Yugan black-boned chickens on embryonic days 9, 13, 17, and 21. Melanin pigments were found to gradually accumulate in the muscle fibers over time. Using RNA-seq, there were 40, 97, 169, and 94 genes were identified as DEGs, respectively, between Yugan black-boned chicken muscles and Wenchang chickens at embryonic day 9, 13, 17, and 21 stages (fold change ≥2.0, false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05). Thirteen DEGs, such as , , , and , were commonly identified among the time points observed. These DEGs were mainly involved in pigmentation, melanin biosynthetic and metabolic processes, and secondary metabolite biosynthetic processes. Pathway analysis of the DEGs revealed that they were mainly associated with melanogenesis and tyrosine metabolism. Moreover, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to detect core modules and central genes related to melanogenesis in the muscles of black-boned chickens. A total of 24 modules were identified. Correlation analysis indicated that one of them (the orange module) was positively correlated with muscle pigmentation traits (r > 0.8 and < 0.001). Correlations between gene expression and L* values of the breast muscle were investigated in Yugan and Taihe black-boned chickens after hatching. The results confirmed that , , , , and expression levels were significantly associated with L* values ( < 0.01) in black-boned chickens ( < 0.05). Our results suggest that , , , , and are the essential genes regulating melanin deposition in the breast muscle of black-boned chickens. is a potential candidate gene involved in melanin deposition in the breast muscles of Yugan black-boned chickens.
胸肌是骨骼肌的重要组成部分。胸肌的黑化程度会直接影响乌骨鸡的经济价值。尽管哺乳动物和鸟类中与黑色素生成相关的基因已得到深入研究，但对于胚胎发育过程中肌肉色素沉着所涉及的关键基因却知之甚少。在此，我们分析了余干乌骨鸡胸肌中的黑色素沉积模式，并比较了文昌鸡（非乌骨鸡）和余干乌骨鸡在胚胎第9、13、17和21天肌肉之间的差异表达基因（DEG）。结果发现，随着时间推移，黑色素逐渐在肌纤维中积累。利用RNA测序，在胚胎第9、13、17和21天阶段，余干乌骨鸡肌肉与文昌鸡之间分别鉴定出40、97、169和94个基因作为差异表达基因（倍数变化≥2.0，错误发现率（FDR）<0.05）。在所观察的时间点中，共同鉴定出13个差异表达基因，如……等。这些差异表达基因主要参与色素沉着、黑色素生物合成和代谢过程以及次生代谢物生物合成过程。对差异表达基因的通路分析表明，它们主要与黑色素生成和酪氨酸代谢相关。此外，利用加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）来检测乌骨鸡肌肉中与黑色素生成相关的核心模块和中心基因。共鉴定出24个模块。相关性分析表明，其中一个模块（橙色模块）与肌肉色素沉着性状呈正相关（r>0.8且<0.001）。在孵化后，对余干和泰和乌骨鸡胸肌基因表达与L值之间的相关性进行了研究。结果证实，……的表达水平与乌骨鸡的L值显著相关（<0.01）（<0.05）。我们的结果表明，……是调节乌骨鸡胸肌黑色素沉积的关键基因。……是参与余干乌骨鸡胸肌黑色素沉积的潜在候选基因。
