RESEARCH ARTICLE RNA-Seq Analysis of Abdominal Fat in Genetically Fat and Lean Chickens Highlights a Divergence in Expression of Genes Controlling Adiposity, Hemostasis, and Lipid Metabolism Christopher W. Resnyk1, Chuming Chen2, Hongzhan Huang2, Cathy H. Wu2, Jean Simon3, Elisabeth Le Bihan-Duval3, Michel J. Duclos3, Larry A. Cogburn1* 1 Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States of America, 2 Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States of America, 3 INRA UR83 Recherches Avicoles, 37380, Nouzilly, France *
[email protected] OPEN ACCESS Citation: Resnyk CW, Chen C, Huang H, Wu CH, Abstract Simon J, Le Bihan-Duval E, et al. (2015) RNA-Seq Analysis of Abdominal Fat in Genetically Fat and Genetic selection for enhanced growth rate in meat-type chickens (Gallus domesticus)is Lean Chickens Highlights a Divergence in Expression usually accompanied by excessive adiposity, which has negative impacts on both feed effi- of Genes Controlling Adiposity, Hemostasis, and Lipid Metabolism. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0139549. ciency and carcass quality. Enhanced visceral fatness and several unique features of avian doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139549 metabolism (i.e., fasting hyperglycemia and insulin insensitivity) mimic overt symptoms of Editor: Jae Yong Han, Seoul National University, obesity and related metabolic disorders in humans. Elucidation of the genetic and endocrine REPUBLIC OF KOREA factors that contribute to excessive visceral fatness in chickens could also advance our Received: March 10, 2015 understanding of human metabolic diseases. Here, RNA sequencing was used to examine differential gene expression in abdominal fat of genetically fat and lean chickens, which Accepted: September 14, 2015 exhibit a 2.8-fold divergence in visceral fatness at 7 wk.