title: Exploring the molecular mechanism of acute heat stress exposure in broiler chickens using gene expression profiling.
abstract: The process of heat regulation is complex and its exact molecular mechanism is not fully understood. In this study, to investigate the global gene regulation response to acute heat exposure, gene microarrays were exploited to analyze the effects of heat stress on three tissues (brain, liver, leg muscle) of the yellow broiler chicken (Gallus gallus). We detected 166 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the brain, 219 in the leg muscle and 317 in the liver. Six of these genes were differentially expressed in all three tissues and were validated by qRT-PCR, and included heat shock protein genes (HSPH1, HSP25), apoptosis-related genes (RB1CC1, BAG3), a cell proliferation and differentiation-related gene (ID1) and the hunger and energy metabolism related gene (PDK). All these genes might be important factors in chickens suffering from heat stress. We constructed gene co-expression networks using the DEGs of the brain, leg muscle and liver and two, four and two gene co-expression modules were identified in these tissues, respectively. Functional enrichment of these gene modules revealed that various functional clusters were related to the effects of heat stress, including those for cytoskeleton, extracellular space, ion binding and energy metabolism. We concluded that these genes and functional clusters might be important factors in chickens under acute heat stress. Further in-depth research on the newly discovered heat-related genes and functional clusters is required to fully understand their molecular functions in thermoregulation.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Key Lab of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Q B
authors.initials: QB
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Wens Food Group Limited Company, Xinxing 527439, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Key Lab of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: X Q
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Wens Food Group Limited Company, Xinxing 527439, Guangdong, China. Electronic address: Dexiang_zhang@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: D X
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D018869:Heat-Shock Response; D009928:Organ Specificity
keywords: Chicken; Gene expression; Gene module; Heat-stress response