Gene expression profile analysis of F2 cross between Fat and Lean chickens

The aim of this study was to identify genes involved in the variation of the muscle glycogen content at death (estimated through the glycolytic potential, GP), a determining factor in the meat quality of chicken. The gene expression profiles of the Pectoralis major muscle were established using microarrays. We compared animals showing extreme GP values, issued from a F2 cross between Fat and Lean lines. A total of 254 genes were differentially expressed between F2 birds with low or high GP. Several of these genes were validated by qRT-PCR. For the genes with human orthologs, annotation analyses were performed and mainly revealed pathways involved in carbohydrate, fatty-acid and protein metabolism. The relationship between gene expression and meat quality has to now be validated by further e-QTL studies on the F2 population. 8 high GP samples compared to 8 low GP samples, 4 of these were dye-swapped.