Fang Ziyi, He Zhengxiao, Yang Weifang, Wang Yongli, Chen Yanji, Men Lilin, Cai Richun, Yu Yang, Jia Yaxiong, Zhao Guiping
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, 100193, China.
Beijing General Station of Animal Husbandry, Beijing, 100107, China.
BMC Genomics. 2025 Jul 21;26(1):679. doi: 10.1186/s12864-025-11803-7.
Blackness and growth traits are regarded as crucial economic traits in black-bone chicken production. In order to meet consumers' demand for black-bone chickens, it is necessary to study the mechanisms of body weight growth and melanin deposition in black-bone chickens. The genetic variations in growth traits, blackness traits, breast muscle transcriptome, and metabolism were compared between the Yanjin black-bone (YJ) chicken group (n = 20) and Jinling Partridge black-bone (JL) chicken group (n = 20). In addition, very high-melanin content (HB) individuals (n = 6) and very low-melanin content individuals (LB) (n = 6) were selected from the JL chicken group to investigate the melanin synthesis mechanism.
Comparison between the breast muscle transcriptomes of YJ chickens and JL chickens, as well as between HB and LB of JL chickens, revealed that 81 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in melanosomes, pigment particles, and melanogenesis pathways. Among them, four candidate genes, namely TYRP1, KIT, PRKCB and EDNRB2, may be significantly associated with melanin production in black-bone chicken breast muscle. Also, 2 of the marker metabolites among the 16 common differential metabolites (DMs) identified, namely tetrahydrobiopterin (BH) and N-acetylneuraminic acid, significantly contribute to melanin synthesis in the breast muscle of black-bone chickens.
Our research presents complex regulatory networks of DEGs and DMs in melanin synthesis pathways. The results establish a basis for raising black-bone chickens with optimal melanin levels and offer a theoretical framework for investigating the mechanisms of melanin formation in these hens.
黑度和生长性状被视为乌鸡生产中的关键经济性状。为满足消费者对乌鸡的需求，有必要研究乌鸡体重增长和黑色素沉积的机制。比较了盐津乌鸡（YJ）组（n = 20）和金陵黑羽乌骨鸡（JL）组（n = 20）在生长性状、黑度性状、胸肌转录组和代谢方面的遗传变异。此外，从JL鸡组中选取了黑色素含量非常高（HB）的个体（n = 6）和黑色素含量非常低（LB）的个体（n = 6）来研究黑色素合成机制。
YJ鸡和JL鸡胸肌转录组之间以及JL鸡的HB和LB之间的比较显示，81个常见的差异表达基因（DEG）在黑素小体、色素颗粒和黑色素生成途径中显著富集。其中，四个候选基因，即TYRP1、KIT、PRKCB和EDNRB2，可能与乌鸡胸肌中的黑色素产生显著相关。此外，在鉴定出的16种常见差异代谢物（DM）中，有2种标记代谢物，即四氢生物蝶呤（BH）和N - 乙酰神经氨酸，对乌鸡胸肌中的黑色素合成有显著贡献。
我们的研究提出了黑色素合成途径中DEG和DM的复杂调控网络。研究结果为培育黑色素水平最佳的乌鸡奠定了基础，并为研究这些母鸡黑色素形成的机制提供了理论框架。
