RNA sequencing for global gene expression associated with proliferation and differentiation in chicken skeletal muscle myoblasts

RNA sequencing for global gene expression associated with proliferation and differentiation in chicken skeletal muscle myoblasts

Yuma Nihashi1, Koji Umezawa2, Yu Hamaguchi3, Hisato Kobayashi3, Tomohiro Kono4, Tamao Ono2, Hiroshi Kagami2, Tomohide Takaya2.

  1. Department of Science and Technology, Graduate School of Medicine, Science and Technology, Shinshu University.
  2. Department of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University.
  3. NODAI Genome Research Center, Tokyo University of Agriculture.
  4. Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture.

The 2nd International Conference on Tropical Animal Science and Production (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand), 2019/07/10 (Talk).

Abstract

Genetic selection has promoted muscle development of broiler chickens. Multinuclear muscle myofibers grow through the fusion of myogenic precursor cells, myoblasts. Understanding of myoblast properties is thus indispensable for meat production. Herein, we report the cellular characteristics and gene expression profiles of primary-cultured myoblasts of layer and broiler chickens. Broiler myoblasts actively proliferated and promptly differentiated into myotubes compared to layer myoblasts, which corresponds well with the muscle phenotype of broilers. Transcriptomes of layer and broiler myoblasts during myogenic differentiation were quantified by RNA sequencing. Ontology analyses of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) provided a series of extracellular proteins as putative markers for characterization of chicken myoblasts. Another ontology analysis demonstrated that broiler myoblasts are rich in cell cycle factors and muscle components. Independent of these semantic studies, principal component analysis (PCA) statistically defined two gene sets: one governing myogenic differentiation and the other segregating layers and broilers. Thirteen candidate genes were identified with a combined study of the DEGs and PCA that potentially contribute to proliferation or differentiation of chicken myoblasts. These results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of muscle development of domestic animals and may contribute to future breeding strategies.

Keywords: broiler chickens, meat production, myoblast, RNA sequencing, skeletal muscle.