Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes and Lipid Metabolism Signaling Pathways between Muscle and Fat Tissues in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

In this study, signaling pathways and key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in lipid metabolism in muscle and fat tissues were investigated. Muscle and abdominal fat tissues were obtained from 35-day-old female broilers for RNA sequencing. DEGs between muscle and fat tissues were identified. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses of DEGs were performed. A total of 6130 DEGs were identified to be significantly enriched in 365 GO terms, most of which were involved in biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions in muscle and fat tissues. Three important lipid signaling pathways (pyruvate metabolism, the insulin signaling pathway, and the adipocytokine signaling pathway) were identified among the fat and muscle tissues of broilers. The key common DEGs in these pathways included phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 2 (PCK2), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 alpha and beta (ACACA and ACACB), and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (AMPK) gene family. Hence, our findings revealed the pathways and key genes and gene families involved in the regulation of fat deposition in the muscle and fat tissues of broilers.

Keywords: broiler; differentially expressed gene; fat; lipid metabolism; muscle; signaling pathway.

Fig. 1.

The histogram of abdominal fat content and IMF content in the breast muscle tissues.

Fig. 2.

Heatmap of DEGs in each sample. Heatmap showing DEGs between muscle and fat tissue samples. Samples FC1, FC2, and FC3 represent abdominal fat tissues. Samples XC1, XC2, and CC3 represent breast muscle tissues.

Fig. 3.

Venn diagram of DEGs associated with lipid metabolism. DEGs implicated in (A) pyruvate metabolism, (B) the insulin signaling pathway, and (C) the adipocytokine signaling pathway.