Transcriptomic Analysis on Pectoral Muscle of European Meat Pigeons and Shiqi Pigeons during Embryonic Development
by
Fada Li
1,2,†, 
Chenyu Zhu
1,2,†,
Yongquan Luo
1,2,
Songchao Li
1,2,
Qi Wang
1,2,
Yuanhao Han
1,2,
Zhongping Wu
1,2,
Xiujin Li
1,2,
Yayan Liang
1,2,
Yitian Chen
1,2,
Xu Shen
1,2,
Yunmao Huang
1,2,
Yunbo Tian
1,2,* and
Xumeng Zhang
1,2,*
1
Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510225, China
2
College of Animal Science and Technology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Animals 2023, 13(20), 3267; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13203267
Submission received: 4 September 2023
/
Revised: 16 October 2023
/
Accepted: 18 October 2023
/
Published: 19 October 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Analysis of Important Traits in Poultry)
Simple Summary
The meat production performance of pigeons is largely determined by the growth and development of skeletal muscle, and the pectoral muscle accounts for a large proportion of skeletal muscle. The incubation period of pigeons is around 18 days. In order to better investigate the developmental phenotypic differences and hub differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the pectoral muscles between the European meat pigeon Mimas strain and the Shiqi pigeon during the whole embryonic stages, we selected embryonic day 6 (E6), day 10 (E10), day 14 (E14) and day 1 after birth (P1), representing early embryonic development, mid-embryonic development, late-embryonic development, and the first day after hatching. H&E staining and RNA-seq at different embryonic stages were analyzed. It was found that myofiber density was significantly higher in the Shiqi pigeon than that of the European meat pigeon on E6, and myofibers with a diameter in the range of 1~50 μm in the Shiqi pigeon were significantly higher than those in the European meat pigeon on P1. In addition, we found several myogenic DEGs (CLU, PTGS1, NXK6-1, NR1H4, HNF1A, ABCB11, PLA2G12B and BPHL) which may play roles in regulating distinct embryonic pectoral muscle development between two pigeon breeds. This study provides basic data for revealing the distinct embryonic developmental mechanisms of pectoral muscle between European meat pigeons and Shiqi pigeons.
Abstract
In avian muscle development, embryonic muscle development determines the number of myofibers after birth. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the phenotypic differences and the molecular mechanism of pectoral muscle development of the European meat pigeon Mimas strain (later called European meat pigeon) and Shiqi pigeon on embryonic day 6 (E6), day 10 (E10), day 14 (E14) and day 1 after birth (P1). The results showed that the myofiber density of the Shiqi pigeon was significantly higher than that of the European meat pigeon on E6, and myofibers with a diameter in the range of 50~100 μm of the Shiqi pigeon on P1 were significantly higher than those of European meat pigeon. A total of 204 differential expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained from RNA-seq analysis in comparison between pigeon breeds at the same stage. DEGs related to muscle development were found to significantly enrich the cellular amino acid catabolism, carboxylic acid catabolism, extracellular matrix receptor interaction, REDOX enzyme activity, calcium signaling pathway, ECM receptor interaction, PPAR signaling pathway and other pathways. Using Cytoscape software to create mutual mapping, we identified 33 candidate genes. RT-qPCR was performed to verify the 8 DEGs selected—DES, MYOD, MYF6, PTGS1, MYF5, MYH1, MSTN and PPARG—and the results were consistent with RNA-seq. This study provides basic data for revealing the distinct embryonic development mechanism of pectoral muscle between European meat pigeons and Shiqi pigeons.
Keywords:
pigeon; pectoral muscle; myogenesis; transcriptome
