Expression of APOB, ADFP and FATP1 and their correlation with fat deposition in Yunnan’s top six famous chicken breeds

ABSTRACT

1. Adipose differentiation related protein (ADFP), fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1) and apolipoprotein B (APOB) are suspected to play an important role in determining intramuscular fat and in overall meat quality.

2. Yunnan’s top six famous chicken breeds (the Daweishan Mini, Yanjin Black-bone, Chahua, Wuding, Wuliangshan Black-bone and Piao chicken) are known for the high quality of their meat, but little is known about their expression of these three genes.

3. The present study aimed to examine the ADFP, FATP1 and APOB genes in different tissues of these six breeds at different development stages. The subcutaneous fat from the back midline and front, abdominal fat, liver and muscle tissue was sampled at 28, 49, 70, 91 and 112 days. The expression of ADFP, FATP1 and APOB was measured by real-time PCR.

4. The results showed that the expression of the three genes differed depending on age, tissue types and breeds. However, the expression of the three genes correlated with fat traits. In conclusion, the expression of the ADFP, FATP1 and APOB genes is associated with the fat traits of Yunnan’s top six chicken breeds. These results could help with molecular marker screening and marker-assisted breeding to improve the quality of poultry for meat production.

KEYWORDS:

• Adipose differentiation related protein
• apolipoprotein B
• chicken breeds
• fatty acid transport protein 1
• meat quality

Acknowledgments

The assistance of the staff at Daweishan Mini chicken farm of Pingbian County, Chahua chicken farm of Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, Piao chicken farm of Zhenyuan County, Wuliangshan Black-bone chicken farm of Jingdong county, Wuding chicken farm of Chuxiong city, and Yanjin Black-bone chicken farm of Zhaotong city was highly appreciated. We thank Steve Wylie, G E Cun, and LM Su for their help.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by grants provided by breeding and demonstration promotion in multi-line hybrid breeding system of Yunling quality broiler, the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31200924], the Applied Basic Research programs of Yunnan Province [2010ZC162] and by the Scientific Research Foundation of Kunming University [YJL11003].