Unraveling signatures of chicken genetic diversity and divergent selection in breed-specific patterns of early myogenesis, nitric oxide metabolism and post-hatch growth

Abstract

Introduction: Due to long-term domestication, breeding and divergent selection, a vast genetic diversity in poultry currently exists, with various breeds being characterized by unique phenotypic and genetic features. Assuming that differences between chicken breeds divergently selected for economically and culturally important traits manifest as early as possible in development and growth stages, we aimed to explore breed-specific patterns and interrelations of embryo myogenesis, nitric oxide (NO) metabolism and post-hatch growth rate (GR).Methods: These characteristics were explored in eight breeds of different utility types (meat-type, dual purpose, egg-type, game, and fancy) by incubating 70 fertile eggs per breed. To screen the differential expression of seven key myogenesis associated genes (MSTN, GHR, MEF2C, MYOD1, MYOG, MYH1, and MYF5), quantitative real-time PCR was used.Results: We found that myogenesis associated genes expressed in the breast and thigh muscles in a coordinated manner showing breed specificity as a genetic diversity signature among the breeds studied. Notably, coordinated (“accord”) expression patterns of MSTN, GHR, and MEFC2 were observed both in the breast and thigh muscles. Also, associated expression vectors were identified for MYOG and MYOD1 in the breast muscles and for MYOG and MYF5 genes in the thigh muscles. Indices of NO oxidation and post-hatch growth were generally concordant with utility types of breeds, with meat-types breeds demonstrating higher NO oxidation levels and greater GR values as compared to egg-type, dual purpose, game and fancy breeds.Discussion: The results of this study suggest that differences in early myogenesis, NO metabolism and post-hatch growth are breed-specific; they appropriately reflect genetic diversity and accurately capture the evolutionary history of divergently selected chicken breeds.

Dissecting Selective Signatures and Candidate Genes in Grandparent Lines Subject to High Selection Pressure for Broiler Production and in a Local Russian Chicken Breed of Ushanka

“…The latter was genetically most distant from the two other breeds, as identified by PCA (Figure 2a,b) and confirmed by the admixture/ancestry analysis (Figure 2c). At K = 2, CRW and PRW demonstrated a common ancestry that was different from that of USH, and most likely corresponds to the meat (Asiatic) type in accordance with the evolutionary model of chicken breed origin and formation [67,130]. At K = 3, the genotyped CRW and PRW chickens split into two obvious clusters (Figure 2c).…”

“…The sampling of animals examined included 20 CRW, 20 PRW, and 17 USH male birds. The transboundary CRW and PRW breeds were represented by birds of the four-way broiler cross Smena 8 [66,67] developed at the Breeding and Genetic Center "Smena" (BGCS; Bereznyaki, Moscow Oblast, Russia), Branch of the Federal Scientific Center "All-Russian Research and Technological Poultry Institute" (FSC ARRTPI; Sergiev Posad, Moscow Oblast, Russia). Within the CRW breed there were two lines: B5 (the paternal line of the male parent stock of this cross) and B6 (the maternal line of the male parent stock).…”

“…At K = 3, the genotyped CRW and PRW chickens split into two obvious clusters (Figure 2c). These can be attributed to the meat (CRW) and dual-purpose (PRW) types according to the traditional classification and phenotypic clustering models, as described in Larkina et al [59] and Kochish et al [67].…”

“…Originally, CRW descended from the English local game chickens and Asiatic game (Asil, White Malay, and Indian Game) and meat-type (Cochin) breeds. The initial stock of breeds for developing PRW was somewhat more diverse and included chickens of Asiatic (Java Black, Brahma, Cochin White and Cochin Buff), North American (Dominique), and European (White-faced Black Spanish) origins [67]. The unique genetic makeup and diversity peculiarities of USH we established here were well in line with our previous genome-wide surveys of this old Russian breed [62,63] relative to the genomes of CRW, as well as the Orloff Mille Fleur [59,62,[132][133][134][135][136], Russian White [50,51,57,58,[137][138][139][140], and other chicken breeds [132,[141][142][143].…”

Vitamin E and A Availability in Goose Embryos and Goslings and Improvement of Reproduction Traits Depending on the Starting Temperature Regime of Egg Incubation

“…One of the technological methods of waterfowl egg incubation is to turn the eggs during incubation for an even distribution of temperature on the embryo [26,29]. Changes in the mRNA expression of regulatory genes of muscle development (e.g., [30,31]), such as myogenic factor 5 (MYF5), myogenic differentiation 1 (MYOD1), myogenin (MYOG), and myogenic factor 6 (MYF6, or MRF4), along with the activation of the genes for paired box 3 (PAX3) and paired box 7 (PAX7), explain the enhanced growth and development of limb muscles using a wider angle of rotation of the eggs during incubation. Herewith, the development of goslings and the secretion of hormones of the somatotropic and thyrotropic axes are also intensified [29,32].…”