investigation of uncoupling protein function in avian genomes.

Introduction: The uncoupling proteins () are involved in lipid metabolism and belong to a family of mitochondrial anionic transporters. In poultry, only one homologue has been identified and experimentally shown to be associated with growth, feed conversion ratio, and abdominal fat according to its predominant expression in bird muscles. In endotherm birds, cell metabolic efficiency can be tuned by the rate of mitochondrial coupling.