Abstract
BackgroundGenetically selected modern broiler chickens have acquired outstanding production efficiency through rapid growth and improved feed efficiency compared to unselected chicken breeds. Recently, we analyzed the transcriptome of breast muscle tissues obtained from modern pedigree male (PeM) broilers (rapid growth and higher efficiency) and foundational Barred Plymouth Rock (BPR) chickens (slow growth and poorer efficiency). This study was designed to investigate microRNAs that play role in rapid growth of the breast muscles in modern broiler chickens.ResultsIn this study, differential abundance of microRNA (miRNA) was analyzed in breast muscle of PeM and BPR chickens and the results were integrated with differentially expressed (DE) mRNA in the same tissues. A total of 994 miRNA were identified in PeM and BPR chicken lines from the initial analysis of small RNA sequencing data. After filtering and statistical analyses, the results showed miR-2131-5p, miR-221-5p, miR-126-3p, miR-146b-5p, miR-10a-5p, let-7b, miR-125b-5p, and miR-146c-5p up-regulated whereas miR-206 down-regulated in PeM compared to BPR breast muscle. Based on inhibitory regulations of miRNAs on the mRNA abundance, our computational analysis using miRDB, an online software, predicated that 118 down-regulated mRNAs may be targeted by the up-regulated miRNAs, while 35 up-regulated mRNAs appear to be due to a down-regulated miRNA (i.e., miR-206). Functional network analyses of target genes of DE miRNAs showed their involvement in calcium signaling, axonal guidance signaling, and NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response pathways suggesting their involvement in breast muscle growth in chickens.ConclusionFrom the integrated analyses of differentially expressed miRNA-mRNA data, we were able to identify breast muscle specific miRNAs and their target genes whose concerted actions can contribute to rapid growth and higher feed efficiency in modern broiler chickens. This study provides foundation data for elucidating molecular mechanisms that govern muscle growth in chickens.
Highlights
Selected modern broiler chickens have acquired outstanding production efficiency through rapid growth and improved feed efficiency compared to unselected chicken breeds
Samples This study was conducted with modern pedigree male (PeM) broilers provided by Cobb Vantress, Inc. (Siloam Springs, AR) [14] and foundational Barred Plymouth Rock (BPR) chickens maintained at the Poultry Research Facilities of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR)
MicroRNA profiling in PeM and BPR chickens by miRNA sequencing MicroRNA Sequencing of 12 samples yielded 33,727,148 and 51,310,328 raw sequence reads from PeM and BPR samples, respectively
Summary
Selected modern broiler chickens have acquired outstanding production efficiency through rapid growth and improved feed efficiency compared to unselected chicken breeds. Selected modern broiler chickens are characterized by rapid growth and improved feed efficiency compared to unselected counterparts. These traits are beneficial to meet the global protein needs for an ever increasing human population [1, 2]. The miR-26a was reported to accelerate the process of myogenesis through induction of creatine kinase and up-regulation of myoD and myogenin [12]. All these reports suggest that miRNAs are important regulators of muscle growth and development in vertebrate animals
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