Revelation of genes associated with energy generating metabolic pathways in the fighter type Aseel chicken of India through skeletal muscle transcriptome sequencing

Abstract

In this study, comparative analysis of skeletal muscle transcriptome was carried out for four biological replicates of Aseel, a fighter type breed and Punjab Brown, a meat type breed of India. The profusely expressed genes in both breeds were related to muscle contraction and motor activity. Differential expression analysis identified 961 up-regulated and 979 down-regulated genes in Aseel at a threshold of log₂ fold change ≥ ±2.0 (p_adj<0.05). Significantly enriched KEGG pathways in Aseel included metabolic pathways and oxidative phosphorylation, with higher expression of genes associated with fatty acid beta-oxidation, formation of ATP by chemiosmotic coupling, response to oxidative stress, and muscle contraction. The highly connected hub genes identified through gene network analysis in the Aseel gamecocks were HNF4A, APOA2, APOB, APOC3, AMBP, and ACOT13, which are primarily associated with energy generating metabolic pathways. The up-regulated genes in Punjab Brown chicken were found to be related to muscle growth and differentiation. There was enrichment of pathways such as focal adhesion, insulin signaling pathway and ECM receptor interaction in these birds. The results presented in this study help to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with fighting ability and muscle growth in Aseel and Punjab Brown chicken, respectively.

Keywords:

• Aseel
• Punjab Brown
• muscle
• transcriptome

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Director, ICAR- National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), Karnal, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi for providing the necessary facilities.

Author contributions

RA, SA: conceptualization and supervision. RS, AK, MK: resources and data curation. PC, SBL, DCM, MSF and SS: formal analyses; SA: Writing- Review & Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by ICAR – CABin Scheme, New Delhi.