Project description:Identification of sex in broiler chickens allows researchers to reduce the level of variation in an experiment caused by the sex effect. Broiler breeds commonly used in research are no longer feather sexable because of the change in their genetics. Other alternate sexing methods are costly and difficult to apply on a large scale. Therefore, a sexing method is required that is both cost effective and highly sensitive as well as having the ability to offer high throughput genotyping. In this study, high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis was used to detect DNA variations present in the gene chromodomain helicase DNA binding 1 protein (CHD1) on the Z and W chromosomes (CHD1Z and CHD1W, respectively) of chickens. In addition, a simplified DNA extraction protocol, which made use of the basal part of chicken feathers, was developed to speed up the sexing procedure. Three pairs of primers, that is, CHD1UNEHRM1F/R, CHD1UNEHRM2F/R, and CHD1UNEHRM3F/R, flanking the polymorphic regions between CHD1Z and CHD1W were used to differentiate male and female chickens via distinct melting curves, typical of homozygous or heterozygous genotypes. The assay was validated by the HRM-sexing of 1,318 broiler chicks and verified by examining the sex of the birds after dissection. This method allows for the sexing of birds within a couple of days, which makes it applicable for use on a large scale such as in nutritional experiments.
Project description:H5N1 subtype highly pathogenic avian influenza virus has been spreading to Asia, Eurasia and African coutries. An original or six of recombinant H5N1 subtype influenza viruses with varying survivability were infected to chickens for elucidating genes correlated with pathogenicity. Two chickens were infected with each 10^6EID50/ head virus intranasally, and their lung was collected from infected chicken at 24 hours after infection.
Project description:The whole genome sequencing of cloned-like chicken produced by allogeneic transplantation of induced primordial germ cells derived from somatic cells.
Project description:Relative expression levels of mRNAs in chicken cecal epithelia experimentally infected with Eimeria tenella were measured at 4.5 days post-infection. Two weeks old chickens were uninfected (negative control) or were orally inoculated with sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella. Cecal epithelia samples were collected from >12 birds in infected or uninfected group at 4.5 d following infections, in which samples from 4 birds were pooled together to form a total 3 biological replicates in each group. Parasite merozoites were also collected from four infected chickens at 5 d after infections. Uninfected control samples, merozoites and infection group samples were selected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. We used Affymetrix GeneChip chicken genome arrays to detail the chicken cecal epithelia gene expression in the control and E. tenella-infected birds.
Project description:In order to reveal the candidate genes related to yellow plumage in Chinese chicken, a hybrid population of Huiyang Bearded chicken and White Leghorn chicken, and transcriptome data were generated from the yellow and white feather follicle of F3 population in two periods (7 and 11weeks) respectively, using RNA-seq. 127 common different expressed genes were obtained(DEGs) between two periods, these DEGs were mainly enriched in the Gene Ontology classes ‘developmental pigmentation’, ‘melanin biosynthetic process’, ‘melanosome organization’, ‘melanosome membrane’ and ‘melanosome’all related to the pigmentation process. And involved genes were considered as pigment genes that play important roles in melanogenesis. The results reveal key functional genes and possible molecular mechanisms for the elucidation of yellow plumage formation in Chinese indigenous chickens.