Transcriptomic Comparison of Cardiac Tissue at Day 6 and Day 21 Posthatch Between Two Broiler Chicken Lines

Selection for modern broiler chickens has resulted in significant increases in skeletal muscle yield at the expense of other tissues. One tissue that appears to have been adversely affected is cardiac tissue. Our group has been comparing the growth characteristics of two lines of chickens, Ross 708, a modern broiler line, and Illinois, which grows with properties of birds from the 1950s. A transcriptome analysis was done to compare gene expression patterns in the heart of the Ross708 and Illinois during early grow out. Relative tissue expression analysis (RTE) was performed on the two lines of broiler chickens to evaluate changes in cardiac tissue gene expression patterns at days 6 and 21 post hatch. PathRings was then used to identify differences in pathways within lines and between the two days. In Ross broilers the cell cycle appeared to be decreased at day 21 compared to day 6. However, in the Illinois broilers the cell cycle expression was reversed and appeared to be more significant in day 21 than day 6. Other differences within both broiler lines were also seen in the neuronal system pathway. In Ross birds the GABA pathway was less significant while the ATP sensitive potassium channels were increased in day 21 versus day 6. But, no difference could be seen in the Illinois birds within the same pathway. In the poster, we will address differences between the two lines at these time points.