Analysis of Transcriptomic Differences in the Ovaries of High- and Low-Laying Ducks

Yuguang Chang; Rongbing Guo; Tao Zeng; Hanxue Sun; Yong Tian; Xue Han; Yongqing Cao; Ligen Xu; Mingcai Duan; Lizhi Lu; Li Chen

doi:10.3390/genes15020181

Analysis of Transcriptomic Differences in the Ovaries of High- and Low-Laying Ducks

Genes (Basel). 2024 Jan 29;15(2):181. doi: 10.3390/genes15020181.

Authors

Yuguang Chang¹, Rongbing Guo², Tao Zeng¹, Hanxue Sun¹, Yong Tian¹, Xue Han³, Yongqing Cao¹, Ligen Xu¹, Mingcai Duan¹, Lizhi Lu¹, Li Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Animal Science & Veterinary, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
² College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China.
³ Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550000, China.

Abstract

The egg-laying performance of Shan Ma ducks (Anas Platyrhynchos) is a crucial economic trait. Nevertheless, limited research has been conducted on the egg-laying performance of this species. We examined routine blood indicators and observed higher levels of metabolic and immune-related factors in the high-egg-production group compared with the low-egg-production group. Furthermore, we explored the ovarian transcriptome of both high- and low-egg-production groups of Shan Ma ducks using Illumina NovaSeq 6000 sequencing. A total of 1357 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, with 686 down-regulated and 671 up-regulated in the high-egg-production (HEP) ducks and low-egg-production (LEP) ducks. Several genes involved in the regulation of ovarian development, including neuropeptide Y (NPY), cell cycle protein-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1), and transcription factor 1 (E2F1), exhibited significant differential expressions at varying stages of egg production. Pathway functional analysis revealed that the DEGs were primarily associated with the steroid biosynthesis pathway, and the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway exhibited higher activity in the HEP group compared to the LEP group. This study offers valuable information about and novel insights into high egg production.

Keywords: RNA-seq; duck; egg production; ovary.

MeSH terms

Animals
Ducks / genetics
Ducks / metabolism
Female
Gene Expression Profiling
Ovary* / metabolism
Oviposition
Transcriptome* / genetics

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFD1300100) (L.L.), the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-42) (L.L.), the Zhejiang Province Agricultural New Breed Breeding Major Science and Technology Special Project (2021C02068) (L.L.), and Qiankehe Achievement (2022) General 004.