GSE175887
Ad Libitum Feeding in Broiler Breeder Hens Alters Transcriptome of Granulosa Cells of Prehierarchal Follicles
Intense selective breeding of broiler breeds of chickens has resulted in suboptimal egg production in broiler breeder hens. Ad libitum feeding which leads to excessive and disorganized follicular growth exacerbates this reproductive phenotype. One strategy used to improve broiler breeder hen reproductive efficiency is restricted feeding. In this study, we sought to identify transcriptional changes which translate level of dietary intake to increased follicle selection. Broiler breeder hens were raised according to commercial guidelines until 28 weeks of age and then randomly assigned to an ad libitum diet (FF) or continued on a restricted diet (RF) for 6 weeks. Following dietary treatment, granulosa cells from growing 6-8 mm follicles from FF hens (n=3) and RF hens (n=3) were collected, RNA was extracted, and samples were processed for RNA-sequencing on Illumina NextSeq 500. Transcriptomes of granulosa cells from 6-8 mm follicles were sequenced to identify transcriptional differences in the population from which follicles are selected into the preovulatory stage.  FastQ files were first processed through trim-galore and reads were aligned to the Galgal6 genome using the RNA-seq aligner, STAR. A cluster analysis using hclust in R identified a FF sample as an outlier and this sample was removed from the analysis. Differential expression analysis was conducted using DeSEQ2 and resulted in 350 differentially expressed genes. Several genes involved in follicle selection were upregulated in prehierarchal follicles of FF hens, suggesting an effect of dietary treatment at early stages in follicle development. Overall design: Granulosa cells of 6-8 mm follicles mRNA profiles of 2 FF and 3 RF hens.