Abstract
BackgroundFatty acid composition contributes greatly to the quality and nutritional value of meat. However, the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying fatty acid accumulation in poultry have not yet been cleared. The aims of this study were to characterize the dynamics of fatty acid accumulation in duck breast muscle and investigate its correlations with gene expression.ResultsHere, we analyzed the fatty acid profile and transcriptome of breast muscle derived from Pekin ducks and mallards at the ages of 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks. Twenty fatty acids were detected in duck breast muscle, with palmitic acid (C16:0, 16.6%~ 21.1%), stearic acid (C18:0, 9.8%~ 17.7%), oleic acid (C18:1n-9, 15.7%~ 33.8%), linoleic acid (C18:2n-6, 10.8%~ 18.9%) and arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6, 11.7%~ 28.9%) as the major fatty acids. Our results showed that fatty acid composition was similar between the two breeds before 6 weeks, but the compositions diverged greatly after this point, mainly due to the stronger capacity for C16:0 and C18:1n-9 deposition in Pekin ducks. By comparing the multistage transcriptomes of Pekin ducks and mallards, we identified 2025 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Cluster analysis of these DEGs revealed that the genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid degradation and the PPAR signaling pathway were upregulated in mallard at 8 weeks. Moreover, correlation analysis of the DEGs and fatty acid composition traits suggested that the DEGs involved in lipogenesis, lipolysis and fatty acid β-oxidation may interact to influence the deposition of fatty acids in duck breast muscle.ConclusionsWe reported the temporal progression of fatty acid accumulation and the dynamics of the transcriptome in breast muscle of Pekin ducks and mallards. Our results provide insights into the transcriptome regulation of fatty acid accumulation in duck breast muscle, and will facilitate improvements of fatty acid composition in duck breeding.
Highlights
Fatty acid composition contributes greatly to the quality and nutritional value of meat
These results suggest that both genetics and developmental stages may influence the fatty acid composition of duck breast muscle
Our result showed that the module MEblue and MEbrown significantly correlated with five fatty acid composition traits(C16:0, C18:2n6, saturated fatty acid (SFA), Polyunsaturated fatty Acid (PUFA) and Total fatty acid (TFA))
Summary
Fatty acid composition contributes greatly to the quality and nutritional value of meat. It has been widely reported that the fatty acid composition of meat can be affected by various factors such as age, sex, and rearing conditions of the animals [7,8,9,10]. The divergent phenotypes of Pekin ducks include white plumage, extraordinary body size, large deposits of sebum, excellent muscle yield performance and high IMF content. In addition to having economic value, the Pekin duck provides a powerful system for dissecting artificial selection mechanisms in farm animals. It has been reported that the IMF content in Pekin duck was approximately 20% higher than that in mallard [16]. The fatty acid composition of IMF in ducks and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood
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