Abstract
Muscle growth and lipid deposition are co-ordinately regulated processes. Cherry Valley Pekin duck is a lean-type duck breed with high growth rate, whereas the native Pekin duck of China has high lipid deposition. Phenotypic analysis showed that native Pekin ducks have smaller fibre diameter and larger density in the breast muscle at 3 weeks of age and higher intramuscular fat content at 6 weeks of age than those in Cherry Valley Pekin ducks. We detected 17 positively selected genes (PSGs) by comparing genes mainly involved with muscle organ development, muscle contraction, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor signalling pathway, and fatty acid metabolism. In all, 52 and 206 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in transcriptomic comparisons between the two breeds at 3 and 6 weeks of age, respectively, which could potentially affect muscle growth and lipid deposition. Based on the integration of PSGs and DEGs and their functional annotations, we found that 11 and 10 genes were correlated with muscle growth and lipid deposition, respectively. Identification of candidate genes controlling quantitative traits of duck muscle might aid in elucidating the mechanisms of muscle growth and lipid deposition and could help in improving duck breeding.
Highlights
Duck is an ancient domestic animal used for its meat, egg, and feather
Many candidate genes and gene families responsible for growth traits have been identified in duck; these include myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) family members [myogenic factor 5 (MYF5), muscle-specific regulatory factor 4 (MRF4), myoblast determination protein (MYOD), and myogenin (MYOG)3], myocyte enhancer factor-2 gene family (MEF2)[4], lipoprotein lipase (LPL)[5], and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs)[6]
Cherry Valley Pekin duck has been developed into a lean-type breed by modern breeding system, whereas native Pekin ducks in China have been allowed to preserve their high intramuscular fat (IMF) content[5]
Summary
Duck is an ancient domestic animal used for its meat, egg, and feather. Pekin duck is famous for its extensive adaptability, rapid growth during rearing stage, and superior taste rendered by the high content of intramuscular fat (IMF)[1]. Cherry Valley Pekin duck, a widely used meat duck breed, is a lean-type breed derived from Pekin duck, whereas the native Pekin duck in China has high lipid deposition ability. These breeds are model systems for investigating the mechanisms underlying variation in muscle growth and lipid deposition under similar genetic backgrounds; the phenotypic differences between these two breeds might have resulted mostly from the differences in intensive artificial selection. A comprehensive analysis combining WGS and RNA-seq was performed to determine the genomic variations and gene expression profiles for detecting candidate genes related to muscle growth and lipid deposition in Cherry Valley Pekin and native Pekin ducks
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