Metabolomics reveals the reasons for the occurrence of Pendulous-comb related to egg production performance

Danfeng Cai; Zhen Zhou; Bolin Cai; Zhijun Wang; Xing Ju; Shaofen Kong; Xin Yang; Duo Lin; Qinghua Nie

Poultry Science (Aug 2024)

Metabolomics reveals the reasons for the occurrence of Pendulous-comb related to egg production performance

Danfeng Cai,
Zhen Zhou,
Bolin Cai,
Zhijun Wang,
Xing Ju,
Shaofen Kong,
Xin Yang,
Duo Lin,
Qinghua Nie

Affiliations

Danfeng Cai: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Zhen Zhou: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Bolin Cai: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Zhijun Wang: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Lin'an 311300, China
Xing Ju: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Shaofen Kong: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Xin Yang: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Duo Lin: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China
Qinghua Nie: State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-Bioresources, Lingnan Guangdong Laboratory of Agriculture, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, and Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China; Corresponding author:

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 103, no. 8
p. 103867

Abstract

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ABSTRACT: The chicken comb is an essential secondary sexual characteristic to measure sexual maturity and is closely related to reproductive performance. Pendulous comb (PC) and upright comb (UC) are 2 common comb phenotypes in hens, which have been highly associated with egg production performance. However, the reasons for the formation of PC remain undetermined. In this study, we first characterized the PC and UC chicken at start (at 175 d age), peak (at 217 d age), and postlaying (at 300 d age) and found that PC and UC could transform for each other. Furthermore, we suggested that PC chicken demonstrated better egg production performance than UC chicken, especially characterizing comb type in the start-laying period. Moreover, we performed histological evaluation of PC and UC tissue, which suggested that the low density of collagen fibers and acid mucopolysaccharides might lead to the formation of PC. To further explore the possible reasons for PC formation, we performed an untargeted metabolomic analysis of serum between PC and UC chicken in the start, peak, and postlaying periods. The enrichment analysis of period-unique differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) between PC and UC showed that the different metabolic pathways and nutritional levels might contribute to the formation of PC in the different laying periods. Our research provided critical insights into the phenotypic diversity of chicken comb, establishing a foundation for early selection of chicken egg production performance.

Published in Poultry Science

ISSN: 0032-5791 (Print); 1525-3171 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Animal culture
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/poultry-science

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