Exploration of tissue-specific gene expression patterns underlying timing of breeding in contrasting temperature environments in a song bird

Abstract

Background Seasonal timing of breeding is a life history trait with major fitness consequences but the genetic basis of the physiological mechanism underlying it, and how gene expression is affected by date and temperature, is not well known. In order to study this, we measured patterns of gene expression over different time points in three different tissues of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-liver axis, and investigated specifically how temperature affects this axis during breeding. We studied female great tits ( Parus major ) from lines artificially selected for early and late timing of breeding that were housed in two contrasting temperature environments in climate-controlled aviaries. We collected hypothalamus, liver and ovary samples at three different time points (before and after onset of egg-laying). For each tissue, we sequenced whole transcriptomes of 12 pools ( n = 3 females) to analyse gene expression. Results Birds from the selection lines differed in expression especially for one gene with clear reproductive functions, zona pellucida glycoprotein 4 ( ZP4 ), which has also been shown to be under selection in these lines. Genes were differentially expressed at different time points in all tissues and most of the differentially expressed genes between the two temperature treatments were found in the liver. We identified a set of hub genes from all the tissues which showed high association to hormonal functions, suggesting that they have a core function in timing of breeding. We also found ample differentially expressed genes with largely unknown functions in birds. Conclusions We found differentially expressed genes associated with selection line and temperature treatment. Interestingly, the latter mainly in the liver suggesting that temperature effects on egg-laying date may happen down-stream in the physiological pathway. These findings, as well as our datasets, will further the knowledge of the mechanisms of tissue-specific avian seasonality in the future. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-019-6043-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Convergent and distributed effects of the schizophrenia-associated 3q29 deletion on the human neural transcriptome

“…Table S2.3). To generate rigorous WGCNA-based predictions, we adopted a conservative criterion that defines hub genes as nodes with kME > 0.8 (P < 0.05), a stringent threshold used by several other studies [52][53][54]. This analysis revealed that only one 3q29 interval gene is a hub gene: UBXN7 (kME = 0.84, P = 8.33E-30), which encodes a ubiquitin ligase-substrate adaptor [55,56].…”

Influence of heat stress on reference genes stability in heart and liver of two chickens genotypes

“…For example, muscle-specific genes were associated with muscle contraction, and spleen-specific genes with immune response. On the other hand, there are different genes controlled by temporal regulation, i.e., they are expressed in certain periods, as reported by Laine et al [42], in which songbird genes were differentially expressed at different times as well as at different temperature treatments. Therefore, different tissues, as well as different genetic groups subjected to adverse environmental conditions, may express different structural and protein components, resulting in a specific gene profile to suit each necessity [43].…”

Examination the effect of post-hatch heat-treatment and heat-stress in Transylvanian Naked Neck chicken

“…It was published that in the broiler chickens the genetically lean breed is more resistant to the higher ambient temperature, than the fat counterpart [21]. Laine and her collages [45] studied the effect of higher temperature in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-liver axis of Great Tit (Parus major). They found that the zona pellucida glycoprotein 4 (ZP4) is differently expressed before and after the onset of egg-laying [45].…”

“…Laine and her collages [45] studied the effect of higher temperature in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-liver axis of Great Tit (Parus major). They found that the zona pellucida glycoprotein 4 (ZP4) is differently expressed before and after the onset of egg-laying [45]. We could not detect difference in spermatological parameters between the heat-treated and control groups in heat-stress condition analysing four spermatological parameters; quantity, concentration, motility and live-dead ratio of sperm (Fig.…”