Differential Expression of Myogenic and Calcium Signaling-Related Genes in Broilers Affected With White Striping

Abstract

White Striping (WS) has been one of the main issues in poultry production in the last years since it affects meat quality. Studies have been conducted to understand WS and other myopathies in chickens, and some biological pathways have been associated to the prevalence of these conditions, such as extracellular calcium level, oxidative stress, localized hypoxia, possible fiber-type switching, and cellular repairing. Therefore, to understand the genetic mechanisms involved in WS, 15 functional candidate genes were chosen to be analyzed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) in breast muscle of normal and WS-affected chickens. To this, the pectoral major muscle (PMM) of 16 normal and 16 WS-affected broilers were collected at 42 days of age and submitted to qRT-PCR analysis. Out of the 15 genes studied, six were differentially expressed between groups. The CA2, CSRP3, and PLIN1 were upregulated, while CALM2, DNASE1L3, and MYLK2 genes were downregulated in the WS-affected when compared to the normal broilers. These findings highlight that the disruption on muscle and calcium signaling pathways can possibly be triggering WS in chickens. Improving our understanding on the genetic basis involved with this myopathy might contribute for reducing WS in poultry production.

Influences of Thermal Stress During Three Weeks Before Market Age on Histology and Expression of Genes Associated With Adipose Infiltration and Inflammation in Commercial Broilers, Native Chickens, and Crossbreeds

“…Although the actual reason of this discrepancy requires further investigation, it might be reasonable to hypothesize that the birds might be able to adapt to 20 days of cyclic thermal stress ( Aengwanich, 2007 ). In addition, increased abundances of CD36 , PPARG , FABP4 , and LPL were previously found in the WB-affected broiler breast muscle ( Abasht et al, 2016 ; Lake et al, 2019 ), while Marciano et al (2021) reported increased PLIN1 in the breast muscle of Cobb500 affected with WS condition. Papah and Abasht (2019) addressed significant increase in CD36 , PLIN1 , FABP4 , and LPL abundance in the WB-affected pectoralis major muscle collected from 3-week-old Ross 708 broilers; however, in 7-week-old broilers, differential expressions of those genes between the affected and unaffected samples were not observed.…”

Dietary protein restriction regulates skeletal muscle fiber metabolic characteristics associated with the FGF21-ERK1/2 pathway

“… 54 , 55 , 56 In addition, calcium signaling pathways are closely related to meat quality can mediate the transformation of skeletal muscle fibers from fast-twitch muscle fiber to slow-twitch muscle fiber and improve intramuscular fat deposition. 57 , 58 , 59 Overall, these results imply that intricate mechanisms may be involved in the causal relationship between meat quality regulation and dietary protein restriction, and ERK1/2 signaling might mediate muscle fiber remodeling in different ways under various conditions.…”

Spatial transcriptomics reveals alterations in perivascular macrophage lipid metabolism in the onset of Wooden Breast myopathy in broiler chickens

“…For instance, expression level of myogenin ( MYOG ) and myosin heavy chain 15 ( MYH15 ) increased linearly with WB severity to participate in skeletal muscle repair 63 . Cysteine and glycine rich protein 3 ( CSRP3 ) and its grouped protein myozenin 2 ( MYOZ2 ) are related to repair mechanism and fiber-type switching in WB affected muscle 3 , 64 . Musculoskeletal, embryonic nuclear protein 1 ( MUSTN1 ), ankyrin repeat domain 1 ( ANKRD1 ), HOP homeobox ( HOPX ) and PDZ and LIM domain 3 ( PDLIM3 ) were up-regulated in WB birds at 7 weeks 65 .…”