Abstract
High-quality chicken meat is an important source of animal protein for humans. Gene expression profiles in breast muscle tissue were determined, aiming to explore the common regulatory genes relevant to muscle and intramuscular fat (IMF) during the developmental stage in chickens. Results show that breast muscle weight (BMW), breast meat percentage (BMP, %), and IMF (%) continuously increased with development. A total of 256 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during the developmental stage were screened. Among them, some genes related to muscle fiber hypertrophy were upregulated (e.g., CSRP3, LMOD2, MUSTN1, MYBPC1), but others (e.g., ACTC1, MYL1, MYL4) were downregulated from Week 3 to Week 18. During this period, expression of some DEGs related to the cells cycle (e.g., CCNB3, CCNE2, CDC20, MCM2) changed in a way that genetically suggests possible inhibitory regulation on cells number. In addition, DEGs associated with energy metabolism (e.g., ACOT9, CETP, LPIN1, DGAT2, RBP7, FBP1, PHKA1) were found to regulate IMF deposition. Our data identified and provide new insights into the common regulatory genes related to muscle growth, cell proliferation, and energy metabolism at the developmental stage in chickens.
Highlights
Chickens are an important source of high-quality animal protein for humans
Similar observations were recorded for intramuscular fat (IMF) (%), which continuously and significantly increased (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01) throughout the development period
differentially expressed genes (DEGs) screened out in breast muscle tissue samples at different developmental stages, IMF production are the joint result of cell proliferation and differentiation, and energy metabolism we further identified the related functional genes by
Summary
Chickens are an important source of high-quality animal protein for humans. The broiler industry is one of the most active industry sectors today, aiming to obtain the highest meat tissue, the optimal ratio of carcass muscle to fat, acceptable physicochemical characteristics, flavor, health, and safety for consumers. Muscle and intramuscular fat (IMF) are the two main characteristics, respectively, representing the yield and quality of meat [1,2]. This depends on the development of muscle and adipose tissue or cells, and their relationship. Muscle fiber is the basic unit of skeletal muscle. Myoblasts originate from the mesoderm of the embryo They proliferate in large numbers, migrate, and fuse into polynucleated cells to form muscle tubes, and differentiate to form muscle fibers by regulation of Wnt, Shh, MyoD, and Myf5 [4,5,6].
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