Identification of key genes and pathways associated with feather cycle of chickens

The objective of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes and key pathways between different growth cycle of feather follicles using RNA-seq in the natural state. Considering the differences of skin tissue traits in different regions, the different growth cycles of the same area of chicken skin were selected as materials. It was expected the results can provide meaningful information implicated in regulated chickens' feather follicle growth cycle and improve carcass appearance of native chicken breeding.