Study of the genetic network that affecting the growth of breast muscle in Ross chickens under RNA-Seq data

Native chicken breeds are important genetic resource and well adapted to the local environmental conditions. However, growth rate and feed efficiency of these breeds are not appropriate. Comparative studies of commercial and native chickens provide an opportunity to characterize the biological basis of differences between them. Here, RNA-Seq technology was used to investigate differences in the transcriptomes of breast muscle-related genes and associated pathways between Ross and Isfahani's native breed. In this study, 200 birds of the Ross 708 strain and 200 native chicks of Isfahani native were reared in a similar standard management and feeding manner. We extracted total RNA from two native and two commercial breast muscle samples of the 28 days old chickens. Compared with native breed, 606 significantly DEGs (differentially expressed genes) (357 up regulated and 249 down-regulated, P-adjusted ≤ 0.05) were obtained in commercial breed. PPI (Protein-protein interaction) network of DEGs (up regulated in commercial) was constructed and 267 genes were included in the resulted PPI network of which 75 genes were identified in the form of three modules with a maximum level of significance. Gene ontology studies showed that all three modules played an effective role in the growth of breast muscle and their hub genes with maximum degree were JUN, EGR1, THBS1, ITGA4 and ACTA2.