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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #411704
Research Project: Assessment of Quality Attributes of Poultry Products, Grain, Seed, Nuts, and Feed

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Molecular and gene expression analyses of chicken oncomodulin and their association with breast myopathies in broilers

Author
item Kong, Byungwhi
item SHAKERI, MAJID - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item CHOI, JANGHAN - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Zhuang, Hong
item Bowker, Brian

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2024
Publication Date: 5/21/2024
Citation: Kong, B.C., Shakeri, M., Choi, J., Zhuang, H., Bowker, B.C. 2024. Molecular and gene expression analyses of chicken oncomodulin and their association with breast myopathies in broilers. Poultry Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.103862.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.103862

Interpretive Summary: Decreased quality of chicken breast meat due to breast myopathies has caused huge economic losses in global poultry production. This study was conducted to characterize potentially critical genes (oncomodulins) for the onset of breast myopathies. Results provide insights into genetic susceptibilities on the development of chicken breast myopathies and will contribute to improving poultry productivity through disease prevention.

Technical Abstract: Oncomodulins (OCMs), also known as parvalbumins (PVALB), are small molecules known for their high-affinity binding of Ca2+ ions. They play crucial roles as Ca2+ buffers and participate in signaling pathways within muscle and neuron cells. In chickens, three oncomodulin molecules have been identified at the protein level and are named chicken oncomodulin 1 (OCM1), -3 (OCM3), and parvalbumin (PVALB). OCM4 was newly assigned by genome annotation. A gene cluster containing OCM1, OCM3, and OCM4 is located in chromosome 14, while a single gene of PVALB is on chromosome 1. The Ca2+ signaling pathway may be a potential contributor to the onset of chicken breast myopathies. However, chicken OCMs have not been extensively studied in muscle tissues. In this study, the genetic specifications, tissue-specific expressions, and differential expressions of OCM1, OCM3, OCM4, and PVALB in the context of chicken breast myopathies were investigated. OCM1 exhibited moderate expression in the liver, intestine, and kidney. OCM3 was highly expressed in thymus and breast muscle. In the opposite direction of OCM3 expression, a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) was found to be expressed in liver, lung, heart, intestine, and kidney tissues. OCM4 was barely expressed in thymus, thigh-, and breast muscle. PVALB exhibited high expression across all tissues examined. Results of quantitative PCR (qPCR) indicated that the expression of OCM3 was significantly increased (4.4±0.7 fold; p-value= 0.03) in woody breast (WB) muscle and even greater (8.5±0.6 fold; p-value= 0.004) in WB/white striping (WS) muscles. The expression of PVALB showed no difference in WB muscle, but it was notably higher (4.6±0.7 fold; p-value= 0.054) in WB/WS muscle, although statistical significance was not reached. These findings strongly suggest that OCM3 and PVALB may be involved in the disruption of Ca2+ buffering and signaling pathways in chicken breast myopathies.