Carcass composition, meat quality, leg muscle status, and its mRNA expression profile in broilers affected by valgus-varus deformity

Chunxia Cai; Lujie Zhang; Xinxin Liu; Jianzeng Li; Yanchao Ma; Ruirui Jiang; Zhuanjian Li; Guoxi Li; Yadong Tian; Xiangtao Kang; Ruili Han

Poultry Science (Jul 2023)

Carcass composition, meat quality, leg muscle status, and its mRNA expression profile in broilers affected by valgus-varus deformity

Chunxia Cai,
Lujie Zhang,
Xinxin Liu,
Jianzeng Li,
Yanchao Ma,
Ruirui Jiang,
Zhuanjian Li,
Guoxi Li,
Yadong Tian,
Xiangtao Kang,
Ruili Han

Affiliations

Chunxia Cai: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Lujie Zhang: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Xinxin Liu: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Jianzeng Li: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Yanchao Ma: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Ruirui Jiang: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Zhuanjian Li: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Guoxi Li: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Yadong Tian: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China
Xiangtao Kang: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; The Shennong Laboratory, Zhengzhou, 450002, China
Ruili Han: College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Resources (Poultry) Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhengzhou, 450046, China; The Shennong Laboratory, Zhengzhou, 450002, China; Corresponding author:

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 102, no. 7
p. 102682

Abstract

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ABSTRACT: Valgus-varus deformity (VVD) is a common leg disease in commercial broilers, which seriously affects animal welfare and causes economic losses. Up to now, most of the studies on VVD have been on skeleton, whereas there are fewer studies on VVD muscle. In this study, carcass composition and meat quality of 35-day-old normal and VVD Cobb broilers assess the effect of VVD on broiler growth. Molecular biology, morphology, and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) were used to study the difference between normal and VVD gastrocnemius muscle. In comparison with the normal broilers, the breast muscle and leg muscle of the VVD broilers had lower shear force, notably lower crude protein, lower water content, cooking loss, and deeper meat color (P < 0.05). The morphological results showed that the weight of skeletal muscle was significantly higher in the normal broilers than that in the VVD broilers (P < 0.01), the diameter and area of myofibrils in the affected VVD were smaller than in the normal broilers (P < 0.01). Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) of gastrocnemius muscle revealed that the expression of myasthenic marker genes, fast myofiber marker genes, and apoptosis-related factors were significantly higher in the VVD broilers than in the normal broilers (P < 0.01). In total, 736 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified firstly in the normal and VVD leg muscle by RNA-seq. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment indicated that these DEGs were mainly involved in the multicellular organismal process and anatomical structure development. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that DEGs are significantly enriched in proteasome. Protein interaction analysis obtained that DEGs with high interaction were proteasome-related coding genes and ubiquitin-related genes, these DEGs were closely associated with muscle atrophy. These show that VVD has an adverse effect on growth characteristics, slaughter characteristics, and meat quality in broilers, which may cause leg muscle atrophy. This study provides some reference values and basis for studying the pathogenesis of VVD in broilers.

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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