Transcriptomic responses to heat stress in neuroendocrine tissues of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in Pekin ducks
This study investigated transcriptomic responses to chronic heat stress in key neuroendocrine tissues of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in Pekin ducks. Adult female ducks were maintained under thermoneutral conditions or exposed to cyclic heat stress for three weeks. RNA sequencing was performed on hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal gland tissues to characterize tissue-specific changes in gene expression and identify molecular pathways involved in the physiological response to heat stress.