Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (11): 5531-5544.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.11.015

• Animal Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Identification of Key Genes Associated with Breast Muscle Rate in 28-day-old Squabs Based on Genome-wide Selection Signal and Transcriptome

ZHANG Yiran1(), MAO Nannan1, WANG Yunlong1, ZHOU Rongyan1,*(), ZANG Sumin1, XIE Hui2,3, WANG Wenjun1, ZHANG Weiya1,*()   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
    2. Fuping Selenium Pigeon Industry Limited Company, Fuping 073200, China
    3. Hebei Meat Pigeon Industry Technology Research Institute, Fuping 073200, China
  • Received:2025-04-02 Online:2025-11-23 Published:2025-11-27
  • Contact: ZHOU Rongyan, ZHANG Weiya E-mail:2285436351@qq.com;rongyanzhou@126.com;syzwy@hebau.edu.cn

Abstract:

The study aimed to identify the candidate genes associated with breast muscle rate in 28-day-old squabs by the analysis of the genome-wide SNPs and breast muscle transcriptomic data from two populations of pigeons. Ten pigeons from each of the M and B lines were selected for whole genome sequencing. Selective signature analysis was performed based on genomic wide SNPs with extracting and filtering. Ten 28-day-old squabs were selected from two populations with significant differences in breast muscle rate. The transcriptomic data were collected from breast muscles. The expression levels of genes and identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were performed in the pectoral muscle. The key genes associated with breast muscle rate in 28-day-old squabs were identified and screened by combining selection signal analysis. The expression levels of 9 DEGs associated with muscle development were analyzed using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and compared with transcriptome data for validation. M-line and B-line squabs were distinctly clustering into separate groups through principal component analysis (PCA) of 11 577 846 SNPs. Twenty-nine genes associated with muscle development were identified through sliding window Fst and pFst analysis. In the breast muscle of 28-day-old squabs, 192 DEGs were identified through transcriptome analysis, including 68 up-regulated and 124 down-regulated genes. The DEGs were mainly enriched in the nuclear component, apoptosis pathway, Foxo signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Four genes were identified with the integrated analysis of whole-genome and transcriptome data. Among these genes, LTBP1, DPP4, and TNFSF10 are associated with muscle development. The data foundation was provided for deciphering the differences in the breast muscle rate among squabs. The expression levels of 9 DEGs validated by RT-qPCR showed a correlation coefficient of 0.50-0.95 with transcriptomic data, indicating that the two datasets were highly consistent. In this study, genes associated with breast muscle rate differences in squabs were revealed by analyzing genome-wide combined with transcriptome data, providing a new perspective on the molecular mechanism of breast muscle development in pigeons.

Key words: pigeon, breast muscle, genome-wide, transcriptome, selection signal, SNPs

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