Project description:The gut of chicken is mostly colonised with Campylobacter jejuni and with 100 fold less C. coli. The competitive ability of C. coli OR12 over C. jejuni OR1 has been examined in experimental broiler chickens following the observation that C. coli replaced an established C. jejuni intestinal colonisation within commercial chicken flocks reared outdoors (El-Shibiny, A., Connerton, P.L., Connerton, I.F., 2005. Enumeration and diversity of campylobacters and bacteriophages isolated during the rearing cycles of free-range and organic chickens. Applied Environmental Microbiology. 71, 1259-1266).
Project description:The liver plays a critical role in avian reproduction as it is the primary site of de novo lipogenesis and yolk precursor synthesis. Broiler breeder hens, the parents of commercial broiler chickens, often experience poor reproductive efficiency primarily due to declining egg production beginning around 45 weeks of age. Metformin, an antidiabetic drug, exerts its primary effects in the liver by increasing insulin sensitivity and reducing hepatic glucose production in humans. This study aimed to characterize the liver transcriptomic profile of broiler breeder hens supplemented with metformin in the diet at 0 or 75 mg/kg body weight for 40 weeks (25-65 weeks of age; n=45 hens/treatment). Liver tissue was collected from a subset of hens (n=12 hens/treatment group) at 65 weeks of age, RNA was extracted and sequenced using next-generation sequencing. Differential gene abundance analysis revealed that metformin treatment led to the most significant changes in gene expression, with 552 genes differentially expressed compared to the control group. Further transcriptomic analysis highlighted increased expression of genes related to estrogen-stimulated yolk precursor synthesis, insulin-stimulated de novo lipogenesis, and AMPK-mediated glucose homeostasis. qPCR analysis revealed increased expression of ESR1, APOB, APOV1, VTG2, ADIPOQ, ADIPOR2 and ACACA mRNA and decreased expression of PCK1 mRNA validating the transcriptomic data. Collectively, the present study suggests that metformin supplementation supports prolonged egg production in aging broiler breeder hens by sustaining yolk precursor and fatty acid synthesis that are typically diminished in aging broiler breeder hens.
2025-01-14 | GSE286522 | GEO
Project description:Microbiota of broiler chickens
Project description:We recently performed global gene expression in the breast muscles of modern broiler and foundation line chickens. In this study, we have peformed miRNA expression analyses in the same tissues to identify muscle specific miRNAs that could be regulatory factors for muscle growth and feed efficiency in chickens.
2018-09-07 | GSE119528 | GEO
Project description:Gut Microbiota of Broiler Chickens
Project description:Chromosomal structural variation can cause alterations in gene dosage and gene regulation between genomes. Structural variants producing a change in the number of copies of a genomic region are termed copy number variants (CNVs). CNVs have been demonstrated to have causative effects on both Mendelian and complex traits, including susceptibility to infectious diseases. We are interested in mapping CNVs to domesticated chicken breeds to help determine structural variation between genomes that influences economically important traits. For this study, Fayoumi, Leghorn, Line A broiler and Line B broiler chicken were chosen. Fayoumi and Leghorn chickens were selected as these two breeds harbor different responses certain pathogens like Avian Influenza Virus and coccidiosis; Broiler Line A and Line B indivduals were chosen as they harbor different intestinal colonization loads to the bacterium Campylobacter jejuni. Campylobacter genetic Line A and genetic Line B are from a commercial producer have been previously described as either resistant (Line A) or susceptible (Line B). Highly inbred chicken lines Fayoumi M15.2 (n=6) and Leghorn GHs6 (n=6) and broilers from Line A (n=24 individuals in pools of 4) and Line B (n=24 individuals in pools of 4)were subjected to array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH). Each sample was normalized to a Red Jungle Fowl reference. CNVs for each individual and between lines were determined. The major goal of this study was to discover and characterize CNVs in chickens to further narrow in on Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) affecting disease response.