Abstract
Background: Feed efficiency (FE, gain to feed) is an important genetic trait as 70% of the cost of raising animals is due to feed costs. The objective of this study was to determine mRNA expression of genes involved in muscle development and hypertrophy, and the insulin receptor-signaling pathway in breast muscle associated with the phenotypic expression of FE.Methods: Breast muscle samples were obtained from Pedigree Male (PedM) broilers (8 to 10 week old) that had been individually phenotyped for FE between 6 and 7 week of age. The high FE group gained more weight but consumed the same amount of feed compared to the low FE group. Total RNA was extracted from breast muscle (n = 6 per group) and mRNA expression of target genes was determined by real-time quantitative PCR.Results: Targeted gene expression analysis in breast muscle of the high FE phenotype revealed that muscle development may be fostered in the high FE PedM phenotype by down-regulation several components of the myostatin signaling pathway genes combined with upregulation of genes that enhance muscle formation and growth. There was also evidence of genetic architecture that would foster muscle protein synthesis in the high FE phenotype. A clear indication of differences in insulin signaling between high and low FE phenotypes was not apparent in this study.Conclusion: These findings indicate that a gene expression architecture is present in breast muscle of PedM broilers exhibiting high FE that would support enhanced muscle development-differentiation as well as protein synthesis compared to PedM broilers exhibiting low FE.
Highlights
Feed efficiency (FE) is one of the most important genetic traits in animal production since feed costs roughly 70% of the total cost required to bring an animal to market weight (Willems et al, 2013)
Muscle development in the high FE Pedigree Male (PedM) phenotype would be fostered by a combination of; (a) down regulation of expression of MSTN, Smad2 and Smad3 in the myostatin signaling pathway combined with down regulation of CAV3 and IGFBP3, and (b) up regulation of HSP70, NCF2, MYOG, Map2k7, and Map2k6
Synthesis of breast muscle proteins could be enhanced in the high FE phenotype by increased expression of RAPTOR in the mTORC1 complex and increased abundance of genes associated with the eukaryotic translation and initiation complex
Summary
Feed efficiency (FE) is one of the most important genetic traits in animal production since feed costs roughly 70% of the total cost required to bring an animal to market weight (Willems et al, 2013). To develop a comprehensive understanding of the cellular basis of FE, global gene and protein expression studies have been conducted on breast muscle obtained from PedM broilers exhibiting high and low FE phenotypes (Kong et al, 2011, 2016; Bottje et al, 2017a). The objective of this study was to conduct targeted analysis of genes involved in muscle development, protein synthesis, and energy metabolism; with genes associated with the myostatin and insulin signaling pathways in breast muscle obtained from PedM broilers exhibiting a high or low FE phenotype. The objective of this study was to determine mRNA expression of genes involved in muscle development and hypertrophy, and the insulin receptor-signaling pathway in breast muscle associated with the phenotypic expression of FE
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