Annotation of Differential Gene Expression in Small Yellow Follicles of a Broiler-Type Strain of Taiwan Country Chickens in Response to Acute Heat Stress

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 11; p. e0143418
• Main Authors: Cheng, Chuen-Yu, Tu, Wei-Lin, Wang, Shih-Han, Tang, Pin-Chi, Chen, Chih-Feng, Chen, Hsin-Hsin, Lee, Yen-Pai, Chen, Shuen-Ei, Huang, San-Yuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 20.11.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural biotechnology; Animal sciences; Animals; Annotations; Biological activity; Body Temperature; Cell interactions; Chickens; Chickens - physiology; Collagen; Collagen (type II); Communications systems; Disintegration; DNA microarrays; DNA Primers; Environmental aspects; Female; Follicles; Galliformes; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genomics; Heat; Heat shock proteins; Heat stress; Heat tolerance; Heat treatment; Heat-Shock Response - genetics; Hot Temperature; Humidity; Immune system; Inflammation; Interleukin 6; Interleukin-6 - metabolism; Krueppel-like factor; Metalloproteinase; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Ovarian Follicle - metabolism; Ovarian Follicle - pathology; Physiological aspects; Polymerase chain reaction; Poultry; Protein-tyrosine kinase receptors; Proteins; Proteolysis; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Recovery; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA - analysis; RNA polymerase; Strain; Stress, Physiological; Taiwan; Tyrosine; Up-Regulation; Zoology; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143418

This study investigated global gene expression in the small yellow follicles (6-8 mm diameter) of broiler-type B strain Taiwan country chickens (TCCs) in response to acute heat stress. Twelve 30-wk-old TCC hens were divided into four groups: control hens maintained at 25°C and hens subjected to 38°C acute heat stress for 2 h without recovery (H2R0), with 2-h recovery (H2R2), and with 6-h recovery (H2R6). Small yellow follicles were collected for RNA isolation and microarray analysis at the end of each time point. Results showed that 69, 51, and 76 genes were upregulated and 58, 15, 56 genes were downregulated after heat treatment of H2R0, H2R2, and H2R6, respectively, using a cutoff value of two-fold or higher. Gene ontology analysis revealed that these differentially expressed genes are associated with the biological processes of cell communication, developmental process, protein metabolic process, immune system process, and response to stimuli. Upregulation of heat shock protein 25, interleukin 6, metallopeptidase 1, and metalloproteinase 13, and downregulation of type II alpha 1 collagen, discoidin domain receptor tyrosine kinase 2, and Kruppel-like factor 2 suggested that acute heat stress induces proteolytic disintegration of the structural matrix and inflamed damage and adaptive responses of gene expression in the follicle cells. These suggestions were validated through gene expression, using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Functional annotation clarified that interleukin 6-related pathways play a critical role in regulating acute heat stress responses in the small yellow follicles of TCC hens.