Expression analysis of global gene response to chronic heat exposure in broiler chickens (Gallus gallus) reveals new reactive genes

Abstract

The process of heat regulation is complex and the exact molecular mechanism is not fully understood. To investigate the global gene response to chronic heat exposure, a breast muscle cDNA library and a liver tissue cDNA library from Silkie fowl were constructed and analyzed in bioinformatics. A total of 8,935 nonredundant EST were identified from and used for gene expression analysis. Microarray assay revealed that in breast muscle of broiler chickens (Gallus gallus), 110 genes changed expression levels after 3 wk of cycling heat stress. Ubiquitin B (UBB); ubiquitin C (UBC); tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 3-interacting Jun amino-terminal kinase activating modulator (TRAF3IP3); eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3, subunit 6 (EIF3S6); poly(A) binding protein, cytoplasmic 1 (PABPC1); and F-box only protein 11 (FBXO11) were the only genes that have been reported to be involved in heat regulation; the majority of the other genes were shown to be related for the first time. The finding of new heat-reactive genes [mitogen-activated protein kinase activating protein PM20/PM21; suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) box-containing protein 2 (ASB2); ubiquitin-specific proteinase 45 (USP45); and TRK-fused gene (TFG)] suggests that the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways as well as the ubiquitin-proteasome pathways and the nuclear factor κB pathways play important roles in heat regulation. This study provides new information on the regulation of heat stress, though the mechanism is far from being understood. Further in-depth research on the newly discovered heat-reactive genes is required to fully understand their molecular functions in thermoregulation.