Identification of molecular pathways and candidate genes associated with cocks' comb size trait by genome-wide transcriptome analysis. Identification of molecular pathways and candidate genes associated with cocks' comb size trait by genome-wide transcriptome analysis

In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was employed to compare the whole transcriptomic differences between six Partridge Shank chickens that are divergent in comb sizes and divided into two groups. A total of 563 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in the two groups. Among these DGEs, 277 were up-regulated and 286 were down-regulated in the big comb group. According to the animal QTL database, eight DEGs including BMP2 and CHADL matched the QTLs associated with the chicken comb traits. Functional annotation analysis revealed that the DEGs were involved in cell communication and calcium signaling. Protein-protein interaction network analysis showed that STK32A, PI3KR1, EDN1, HSPA5 and HSPA8 might have great impact on comb growth. Moreover, potential alternative splicing (AS) events and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were also identified. Overall design: Examine gene expression level and identified DGEs related to comb size