China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (4): 1468-1477.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2025.04.002

• Biotechnology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Screening of Candidate Genes Regulating Fat Deposition in Pekin Ducks by Integrating Genome and Transcriptome

LIU Sirui, LIU Hongfei, LIU Dapeng, MU Qiming, TANG Hehe, ZHANG He, ZHANG Yongfu, HOU Shuisheng, ZHOU Zhengkui   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction (Poultry), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science of CAAS, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2024-10-02 Published:2025-03-29

Abstract: 【Objective】 The purpose of this experiment was to use the genome resequencing data,transcriptome data,and plasma biochemical indicators of Pekin ducks and Mallard ducks to screen for candidate genes related to fat deposition in Pekin ducks.【Method】 Three 42-day-old Pekin ducks and Mallard ducks were selected to collect and separate the blood plasma from wings,and 12 biochemical indexes such as triglyceride (TG) and phospholipid (PLIP) were determined.Based on the genome resequencing data of 30 Pekin ducks and 41 Mallard ducks,various methods such as fixation index (FST),cross population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH),and Tajima’s D test were used to detect potential selective intervals in Pekin ducks.Using three sliding window/step size models,it was ensured that at least one method could be used to filter out the domestication genes of Pekin ducks.Total RNA was extracted from duck liver samples and transcriptome sequencing was performed.Differential expression genes in liver tissues of Pekin ducks and Mallard ducks were screened by differential expression gene analysis and the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis was performed.The intersection of differentially expressed genes and domestication genes of Pekin ducks was selected to screen out candidate genes regulating duck fat deposition.【Result】 The results of plasma biochemical indices showed that the contents of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and glucose (GLU) in plasma of Pekin ducks were significantly lower than those of Mallard ducks (P<0.05),and the content of TG was significantly higher than that of Mallard ducks (P<0.05).A total of 2 681 domestication genes of Pekin ducks and 455 differentially expressed genes in liver were screened.Differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in metabolic pathways such as glycerolipid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism.Two differentially expressed genes in liver that were strongly selected during the domestication process of Pekin ducks were identified:ACSL5 and ELOVL3.【Conclusion】 This study identified two differentially expressed genes in liver of Pekin ducks and Mallard ducks,namely ELOVL3 and ACSL5.These two genes underwent strong positive selection during the domestication process of Pekin ducks and might be key candidate genes regulating fat deposition in ducks.The results of this study provided a theoretical basis for elucidating the regulatory mechanism of lipid deposition in ducks and precisely regulating the lipid deposition levels in Pekin ducks,offering a reference for further research on duck fat deposition.

Key words: Pekin duck; transcriptome; genome; domestication; liver; lipid metabolism

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