Research Note: Association of single nucleotide polymorphism of AKT3 with egg production traits in White Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata).

Prior studies on transcriptomes of hypothalamus and ovary revealed that AKT3 is one of the candidate genes that might affect egg production in White Muscovy ducks. The role of AKT3 in the uterus during reproductive processes cannot be overemphasized. However, functional role of this gene in the tissues and on egg production traits of Muscovy ducks remains unknown.

Long noncoding RNA ZFP36L2-AS functions as a metabolic modulator to regulate muscle development.

Skeletal muscle is the largest metabolic organ in the body, and its metabolic flexibility is essential for maintaining systemic energy homeostasis. Metabolic inflexibility in muscles is a dominant cause of various metabolic disorders, impeding muscle development. In our previous study, we found lncRNA ZFP36L2-AS (for "ZFP36L2-antisense transcript") is specifically enriched in skeletal muscle.

Hypothalamic and ovarian transcriptome profiling reveals potential candidate genes in low and high egg production of white Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata).

In China, the low egg production rate is a major challenge to Muscovy duck farmers. Hypothalamus and ovary play essential role in egg production of birds. However, there are little or no reports from these tissues to identify potential candidate genes responsible for egg production in White Muscovy ducks.

Single-cell RNA sequencing of preadipocytes reveals the cell fate heterogeneity induced by melatonin.

Obesity is a global epidemic health disorder and associated with several diseases. Body weight-reducing effects of melatonin have been reported; however, no investigation toward examining whether the beneficial effects of melatonin are associated with preadipocyte heterogeneity has been reported. In this study, we profiled 25 071 transcriptomes of normal and melatonin-treated preadipocytes using scRNA-seq.

Long noncoding RNA suppresses production-mediated muscle atrophy via nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

As the world population grows, muscle atrophy leading to muscle wasting could become a bigger risk. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to play important roles in muscle growth and muscle atrophy. Meanwhile, it has recently come to light that many putative small open reading frames (sORFs) are hidden in lncRNAs; however, their translational capabilities and functions remain unclear.

Control of preadipocyte proliferation, apoptosis and early adipogenesis by the forkhead transcription factor FoxO6.

Aims: Previous studies have shown that the forkhead transcription factor FoxO6 involved in memory consolidation and hepatic glucose homeostasis. Here we asked whether chicken FoxO6 may regulate preadipocyte proliferation, apoptosis and early adipogenesis.

Main Methods: Overexpression and knockdown of FoxO6 were performed and evaluated through cell proliferation methods, Oil-Red-O staining, and specific marker expression.

A Novel DNA Methyltransferase Splice Variant Represses Preadipocyte Proliferation and Differentiation.

Proliferation and differentiation of preadipocyte are essential for the formation of fat tissues. However, the genes that regulate the early stage of preadipocyte differentiation in chicken have remained elusive. Here we identify a novel spliced variant of the DNA methyltransferase gene, named , that controls early preadipocyte differentiation.

MiR-34b-5p Mediates the Proliferation and Differentiation of Myoblasts by Targeting IGFBP2.

As key post-transcriptional regulators, microRNAs (miRNAs) play an indispensable role in skeletal muscle development. Our previous study suggested that miR-34b-5p and IGFBP2 could have a potential role in skeletal muscle growth. Our goal in this study is to explore the function and regulatory mechanism of miR-34b-5p and IGFBP2 in myogenesis.

LncIRS1 controls muscle atrophy via sponging miR-15 family to activate IGF1-PI3K/AKT pathway.

Background: Recent studies indicate important roles for long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the regulation of gene expression by acting as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs). However, the specific role of lncRNAs in skeletal muscle atrophy is still unclear. Our study aimed to identify the function of lncRNAs that control skeletal muscle myogenesis and atrophy.

lncRNA-Six1 Is a Target of miR-1611 that Functions as a ceRNA to Regulate Six1 Protein Expression and Fiber Type Switching in Chicken Myogenesis.

Emerging studies indicate important roles for non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) as essential regulators in myogenesis, but relatively less is known about their function. In our previous study, we found that lncRNA-Six1 can regulate in to participate in myogenesis. Here, we studied a microRNA (miRNA) that is specifically expressed in chickens (miR-1611).

Gga-miR-205a Affecting Myoblast Proliferation and Differentiation by Targeting CDH11.

Non-coding RNAs especially miRNAs have been found to play important roles during skeletal muscle development. Our previous RNA-Seq performed on breast muscle tissue from 7 weeks old Recessive White Rock and Xinhua Chicken and leg muscle tissue from female Xinghua Chicken at three development time points (11 embryo age, 16 embryo age, and 1 day post hatch) (accession number GSE62971 and GSE89355, respectively) showed that miR-205a and were differentially expressed genes. In this study, we found that overexpression of significantly facilitated Quail muscle clone (QM7) and chicken primary myoblast (CPM) proliferation and hampered CPM differentiation.

A Novel Transcript Inhibits Adipogenesis.

() is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of methyl groups to specific CpG forms in DNA. In mammals, two variant transcripts of have been successfully identified. To the best of our knowledge, no transcripts in an avian have been successfully identified.

Genomic Insights Into the Multiple Factors Controlling Abdominal Fat Deposition in a Chicken Model.

Genetic selection for an increased growth rate in meat-type chickens has been accompanied by excessive fat accumulation particularly in abdominal cavity. These progressed to indirect and often unhealthy effects on meat quality properties and increased feed cost. Advances in genomics technology over recent years have led to the surprising discoveries that the genome is more complex than previously thought.

Characterization of miRNA and their target gene during chicken embryo skeletal muscle development.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that regulate mRNA expression by degradation or translational inhibition. We investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle development based on differentially expressed genes and miRNAs. We compared mRNA and miRNA from chicken skeletal muscle at embryonic day E11, E16 and one day post-hatch (P1).

MiR-16-5p targets SESN1 to regulate the p53 signaling pathway, affecting myoblast proliferation and apoptosis, and is involved in myoblast differentiation.

The proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation of myoblasts are essential processes in skeletal muscle development. During this developmental process, microRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles. In our previous RNA-seq study (accession number GSE62971), we found that miR-16-5p was differentially expressed between fast and slow growth in chicken.

Chicken shares an NFYB-regulated bidirectional promoter with a antisense transcript and inhibits cells proliferation and migration.

The chicken coiled-coil domain-containing protein 152 () recently has been identified as a novel one implicated in cell cycle regulation, cellular proliferation and migration by us. Here we demonstrate that is oriented in a head-to-head configuration with the antisense transcript of growth hormone receptor () gene. Through serial luciferase reporter assays, we firstly identified a minimal 102 bp intergenic region as a core bidirectional promoter to drive basal transcription in divergent orientations.

Circular RNAs are abundant and dynamically expressed during embryonic muscle development in chickens.

The growth and development of skeletal muscle is regulated by proteins as well as non-coding RNAs. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are universally expressed in various tissues and cell types, and regulate gene expression in eukaryotes. To identify the circRNAs during chicken embryonic skeletal muscle development, leg muscles of female Xinghua (XH) chicken at three developmental time points 11 embryo age (E11), 16 embryo age (E16) and 1 day post hatch (P1) were performed RNA sequencing.

miRNA-223 upregulated by MYOD inhibits myoblast proliferation by repressing IGF2 and facilitates myoblast differentiation by inhibiting ZEB1.

Skeletal muscle differentiation can be regulated by various transcription factors and non-coding RNAs. In our previous work, miR-223 is differentially expressed in the skeletal muscle of chicken with different growth rates, but its role, expression and action mechanism in muscle development still remains unknown. Here, we found that MYOD transcription factor can upregulate miR-223 expression by binding to an E-box region of the gga-miR-223 gene promoter during avian myoblast differentiation.

Systematic transcriptome-wide analysis of mRNA-miRNA interactions reveals the involvement of miR-142-5p and its target (FOXO3) in skeletal muscle growth in chickens.

The goal of this study was to perform a systematic transcriptome-wide analysis of mRNA-miRNA interactions and to identify candidates involved in the interplay between miRNAs and mRNAs that regulate chicken muscle growth. We used our previously published mRNA (GSE72424) and miRNA (GSE62971) deep sequencing data from two-tailed samples [i.e.

Molecular characterization, expression profile of the FSHRgene and its association with egg production traits in muscovy duck.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and its receptor play a key role in the follicular development and regulation of steroidogenesis in the ovary and spermatogenesis in the testis. The purpose of this study was to characterize themuscovy duck FSHR gene, identify SNPs and their association with egg production traits in muscovy ducks. Here, we cloned the complementary DNA (cDNA) sequence of FSHR, and examined the expression patterns of FSHR gene in adult female muscovy duck tissues.

LncRNA-Six1 Encodes a Micropeptide to Activate in and Is Involved in Cell Proliferation and Muscle Growth.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in epigenetic regulation of skeletal muscle development. In our previous RNA-seq study (accession number GSE58755), we found that lncRNA-Six1 is an lncRNA that is differentially expressed between White Recessive Rock (WRR) and Xinghua (XH) chicken. In this study, we have further demonstrated that lncRNA-Six1 is located 432 bp upstream of the gene encoding the protein Six homeobox 1 ().

miR-16 controls myoblast proliferation and apoptosis through directly suppressing Bcl2 and FOXO1 activities.

Myogenesis mainly involves several steps including myoblast proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and fusion. Except for muscle specific regulators, few miRNAs were proved to coordinate this complex process. Here, we reported that miR-16 inhibited myoblast proliferation and promoted myoblast apoptosis by directly targeting Bcl2 and FOXO1.

MiR-34b-5p Suppresses Melanoma Differentiation-Associated Gene 5 () Signaling Pathway to Promote Avian Leukosis Virus Subgroup J (ALV-J)-Infected Cells Proliferaction and ALV-J Replication.

Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) is an oncogenic retrovirus that has a similar replication cycle to multiple viruses and therefore can be used as a model system for viral entry into host cells. However, there are few reports on the genes or microRNAs (miRNAs) that are responsible for the replication of ALV-J. Our previous miRNA and RNA sequencing data showed that the expression of miR-34b-5p was significantly upregulated in ALV-J-infected chicken spleens compared to non-infected chicken spleens, but melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 () had the opposite expression pattern.

Integrated Analysis of Long Non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) and mRNA Expression Profiles Reveals the Potential Role of LncRNAs in Skeletal Muscle Development of the Chicken.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. However, little is currently known about the mechanisms by which they regulate skeletal muscle development in the chicken. In this study, we used RNA sequencing to profile the leg muscle transcriptome (lncRNA and mRNA) at three stages of skeletal muscle development in the chicken: embryonic day 11 (E11), embryonic day 16 (E16), and 1 day after hatching (D1).

Genome-wide association study of aggressive behaviour in chicken.

In the poultry industry, aggressive behaviour is a large animal welfare issue all over the world. To date, little is known about the underlying genetics of the aggressive behaviour. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to explore the genetic mechanism associated with aggressive behaviour in chickens.