Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are in the mitochondrial inner membrane and belong to the transporter family. The biological function of UCPs is regulating discharge of proton gradient generated by the respiratory chain. As a result, the production of ATP is diminished, and dissipative heat is yielded. The present study was designed to investigate the association of UCP gene with chicken growth and body composition traits. The ninth generation of the broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat was used as a research population. Primers for UCP gene were designed from chicken genomic sequence. A single-nucleotide polymorphism, in the exon3 (T1316C) of UCP gene was detected by the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The UCP polymorphism was associated with muscle and fatness traits, such as pectoralis minor weight and abdominal fat weight. The results indicated that UCP gene could be a candidate locus or linked to a major gene which affects muscle and fatness traits in chicken.

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Plant defense against herbivores is costly and often associated with growth repression. The phytohormone jasmonate (JA) plays a central role in prioritizing defense over growth during herbivore attack, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. When brown planthoppers (BPH, Nilaparavata lugens) attack rice (Oryza sativa), growth is dramatically suppressed. BPH infestation also increases inactive gibberellin (GA) levels and transcripts of GA 2-oxidase (GA2ox) genes, two (GA2ox3 and GA2ox7) of which encode enzymes that catalyze the conversion of bioactive GAs to inactive GAs in vitro and in vivo. Mutation of these GA2oxs diminishes BPH-elicited growth restriction without affecting BPH resistance. Phytohormone profiling and transcriptome analyses revealed that GA2ox-mediated GA catabolism was enhanced by JA signaling. The transcript levels of GA2ox3 and GA2ox7 were significantly attenuated under BPH attack in JA biosynthesis (allene oxide cyclase, aoc) or signaling-deficient (myc2) mutants. In contrast, GA2ox3 and GA2ox7 expression was increased in MYC2 overexpression lines. MYC2 directly binds to the G-boxes in the promoters of both GA2ox genes to regulate their expression. We conclude that JA signaling simultaneously activates defense responses and GA catabolism to rapidly optimize resource allocation in attacked plants and provides a mechanism for phytohormone crosstalk.

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