Effect of Divergent Selection for Intramuscular Fat Content on Muscle Lipid Metabolism in Chickens

Abstract

Simple Summary: Intramuscular fat is an important factor affecting meat quality and consumer acceptance. Appropriate increases in the intramuscular fat content contribute to the improvement of meat quality, and genetic selection is an effective method to increase the intramuscular fat content in chickens. In this study, chicken lines divergently selected for their intramuscular fat content were used to investigate the mechanisms behind differential intramuscular fat deposition. These results found in this study may contribute to the improvement of meat quality in chickens.Abstract: Intramuscular fat (IMF)-an important factor affecting meat quality-can be appropriately increased by genetic selection. Chicken lines divergently selected for IMF content were used in this study to investigate the mechanisms behind differential IMF deposition. Sixty 15th generation chickens were genotyped using the IASCHICK 55K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. After quality control, 59 chickens and 36,893 SNPs were available for subsequent analysis. Population structure assessment indicated that the lines were genetically differentiated. Based on the top 1% paired fixation index values, three pathways were significantly (p < 0.05) enriched, and nine genes were considered candidate genes for differential IMF deposition. Differences between the lines in the expressions of representative genes involved in the above pathways were detected in 16th generation chickens. This study suggests that genetic selection for increased IMF in the pectoralis major muscle may enhance fatty acid synthesis, transport, and esterification, and reduce triglyceride hydrolysis. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway, glycerolipid metabolism, and fatty acid degradation pathway may have contributed to the differences in IMF deposition between the lines. These results contribute to the understanding of the genetic mechanisms behind IMF deposition, and the improvement of chicken meat quality.

Effect of marketable age on proximate composition and nutritional profile of breast meat from Cherry Valley broiler ducks

“…Meat quality traits are complex and are influenced by many internal and external factors. Marketable age, as a key external factor, has been confirmed to be closely related to meat qualities ( Van Ba et al., 2012 ; Khan et al, 2015 ; Liu et al., 2019 ). In the present study, the breast muscle of Cherry Valley broiler ducks at 38 days of age achieved the highest protein content and the relatively lower IMF.…”

Time Course Transcriptomic Study Reveals the Gene Regulation During Liver Development and the Correlation With Abdominal Fat Weight in Chicken

“…In chicken, transcriptional analysis on fat deposition were mainly aimed to understand the mechanisms of fat deposition in different depots, e.g., visceral fat (Resnyk et al, 2015) and intramuscular fat (Liu et al, 2019). The liver is the central metabolic organ, and it provides many essential endocrine and exocrine functions including fat synthesis (Zorn and Wells, 2009).…”

Effects of dietary nicotinic acid supplementation on meat quality, carcass characteristics, lipid metabolism, and tibia parameters of Wulong geese

“…Abdominal and subcutaneous fat are the main sources of waste in the slaughterhouse, whereas fat stored intramuscularly is regarded as being a desirable trait related to meat quality in poultry ( Liu et al., 2019 ; Yang et al., 2021 ). The success of poultry meat production has been strongly related to improvements in growth and carcass yield, mainly by increasing breast proportion and reducing abdominal fat ( Zerehdaran et al., 2004 ).…”