Abstract
Egg production is an important economic trait in the commercial poultry industry. Ovarian follicle development plays a pivotal role in regulation of laying hen performance and reproductive physiology. However, the key genes and signaling pathways involved in the various-stages of laying hen follicular development remain poorly understood. In this study, transcriptomes of ovarian follicles at three developmental stages, the large white follicle (LWF), small yellow follicle (SYF), and large yellow follicle (LYF), were comparatively analyzed in hens with high (HR) and low (LR) egg-laying rates by RNA-sequencing. Eighteen cDNA libraries were constructed and a total of 236, 544, and 386 unigenes were significantly differentially expressed in the LWF, SYF, and LYF follicles of HR and LR hens, respectively. Among them, 47 co-transcribed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in LWF and SYF, 68 co-expressed DEGs in SYF and LYF, and 54 co-expressed DEGs in LWF and LYF were mined. Thirteen co-expressed DEGs were found in LWF, SYF, and LYF follicles. Eighteen candidate genes, including P2RX1, CAB39L, BLK, CSMD3, GPR65, ADRB2, CSMD1, PLPP4, ATF3, PRLL, STMN3, RORB, PIK3R1, PERP1, ACSBG1, MRTO4, CDKN1A, and EDA2R were identified to be potentially related to egg production. Furthermore, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis indicated neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, cell adhesion molecules, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor pathway, and cAMP signaling pathway might elicit an important role in formation of egg-laying traits by influencing ovarian follicle development. This study represents the first transcriptome analysis of various-sized follicles between HR and LR hens. These results provide useful molecular evidence for elucidating the genetic mechanism underlying ovarian follicle development associated with egg production in chicken.
Highlights
Egg-laying production efficiency is an important economic trait in the world-wide poultry industry
Only one dominant follicle is generally recruited into the preovulatory hierarchy on an approximate daily basis, which occurs from a small cohort of prehierarchical follicles measuring approximately 6.0- to 8.0-mm in diameter (Woods and Johnson, 2005; Johnson, 2012)
The objective of this study was to identify key functional genes implicated in ovarian follicular growth and development that directly influences egg-laying productivity in hens, and to explore molecular functions, biological processes, and signaling pathways by which the candidate genes contribute to egg-laying production
Summary
Egg-laying production efficiency is an important economic trait in the world-wide poultry industry. During growth and development of the hen ovary, a majority of the follicles undergo atresia, resulting in a limited number of follicles further developing into preovulatory follicles. In this process, follicle selection (cyclic recruitment) plays a critical role in determining whether prehierarchical follicles enter the follicular hierarchy or undergo atresia in the ovary. Numerous studies established ovarian follicular function is regulated by a plethora of endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine factors besides the pituitary gonadotropins (follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone) including steroids, neuropeptides, growth factors, adipokines, cytokines, transcription factors, and so on (Woods and Johnson, 2005; Onagbesan et al, 2009; Dupont et al, 2012; Johnson, 2015b; Xu et al, 2018). Follicular size has a close relationship with its developmental biology, physiological function, and molecular regulation
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