Abstract
Capons are male chickens whose testes have been surgically incised. Capons show a significant increase in fat accumulation compared to intact male chickens. However, while caponization leads to a significant reduction in androgen levels in roosters, little is known about the molecular mechanisms through which androgen status affects lipogenesis in avian species. Therefore, investigation of the influence of androgens on fat accumulation in the chicken will provide insights into this process. In this study, Affymetrix microarray technology was used to analyze the gene expression profiles of livers from capons and intact male chickens because the liver is the major site of lipogenesis in avian species. Through gene ontology, we found that genes involved in hepatic lipogenic biosynthesis were the most highly enriched. Interestingly, among the upregulated genes, the cytosolic form of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK1) gene showed the greatest fold change. Additionally, in conjunction with quantitative real-time PCR data, our results suggested that androgen status negatively regulated the PCK1 gene in male chickens.
Highlights
Capons are male chickens whose testes have been surgically incised
Androgen status plays an important role in adipogenesis [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]; little is known about the molecular mechanisms through which androgen status affects lipogenesis in avian species
We suggest that the gene encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) plays an important role in fat accumulation and is negatively regulated by androgen status in male chickens
Summary
Capons are male chickens whose testes have been surgically incised. A possible reason for this difference in meat quality is that caponization results in a greater increase in subcutaneous, intercellular, and abdominal fat compared with fat accumulation in intact cockerels [2,3,4,5]; this increase in fat improves meat flavor. Androgen status plays an important role in adipogenesis [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]; little is known about the molecular mechanisms through which androgen status affects lipogenesis in avian species. Investigation of the influence of androgens on fat accumulation in the chicken will provide interesting insights into this process
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