Annotation of Differential Gene Expression in Small Yellow Follicles of a Broiler-Type Strain of Taiwan Country Chickens in Response to Acute Heat Stress

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 20;10(11):e0143418. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143418. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

This study investigated global gene expression in the small yellow follicles (6-8 mm diameter) of broiler-type B strain Taiwan country chickens (TCCs) in response to acute heat stress. Twelve 30-wk-old TCC hens were divided into four groups: control hens maintained at 25°C and hens subjected to 38°C acute heat stress for 2 h without recovery (H2R0), with 2-h recovery (H2R2), and with 6-h recovery (H2R6). Small yellow follicles were collected for RNA isolation and microarray analysis at the end of each time point. Results showed that 69, 51, and 76 genes were upregulated and 58, 15, 56 genes were downregulated after heat treatment of H2R0, H2R2, and H2R6, respectively, using a cutoff value of two-fold or higher. Gene ontology analysis revealed that these differentially expressed genes are associated with the biological processes of cell communication, developmental process, protein metabolic process, immune system process, and response to stimuli. Upregulation of heat shock protein 25, interleukin 6, metallopeptidase 1, and metalloproteinase 13, and downregulation of type II alpha 1 collagen, discoidin domain receptor tyrosine kinase 2, and Kruppel-like factor 2 suggested that acute heat stress induces proteolytic disintegration of the structural matrix and inflamed damage and adaptive responses of gene expression in the follicle cells. These suggestions were validated through gene expression, using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Functional annotation clarified that interleukin 6-related pathways play a critical role in regulating acute heat stress responses in the small yellow follicles of TCC hens.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Body Temperature
  • Chickens / physiology*
  • DNA Primers
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling*
  • Gene Expression Regulation*
  • Heat-Shock Response / genetics*
  • Hot Temperature*
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Ovarian Follicle / metabolism*
  • Ovarian Follicle / pathology
  • RNA / analysis
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Stress, Physiological
  • Taiwan
  • Up-Regulation

Substances

  • DNA Primers
  • Interleukin-6
  • RNA

Associated data

  • GEO/GSE71091

Grants and funding

This study was supported in part by grants from Ministry of Science and Technology (NSC# 102-2321-B-005-013, MOST# 103-2321-B-005-010, and NSC# 101-2311-B-005-008-MY3), and the Ministry of Education (under the ATU plan), Executive Yuan, Taiwan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.