Coloration is one of the most recognizable characteristics in chickens, and clarifying the coloration mechanisms will help us understand feather color formation. “Yufen I” is a commercial egg-laying chicken breed in China that was developed by a three-line cross using lines H, N and D. Columbian plumage is a typical feather character of the “Yufen I” H line. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the pigmentation of Columbian plumage, this study utilizes high-throughput sequencing technology to compare the transcriptome and proteome differences in the follicular tissue of different feathers, including the dorsal neck with black and white striped feather follicles (Group A) and the ventral neck with white feather follicles (Group B) in the “Yufen I” H line. In this study, we identified a total of 21,306 genes and 5,203 proteins in chicken feather follicles. Among these, 209 genes and 382 proteins were differentially expressed in two locations, Group A and Group B, respectively. A total of 8 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 9 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were found to be involved in the melanogenesis pathway. Additionally, a specifically expressed MED23 gene and a differentially expressed GNAQ protein were involved in melanin synthesis. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis mapped 190 DEGs and 322 DEPs to 175 and 242 pathways, respectively, and there were 166 pathways correlated with both DEGs and DEPs. 49 DEPs/DEGs overlapped and were enriched for 12 pathways. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses revealed that the following pathways were activated: melanogenesis, cardiomyocyte adrenergic, calcium and cGMP-PKG. The expression of DEGs was validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) that produced results similar to those from RNA-seq. In addition, we found that the expression of the MED23, FZD10, WNT7B and WNT11 genes peaked at approximately 8 weeks in the “Yufen I” H line, which is consistent with the molting cycle. As both groups showed significant differences in terms of the expression of the studied genes, this work opens up avenues for research in the future to assess their exact function in determining plumage color. Common DEGs and DEPs were enriched in the melanogenesis pathway. MED23 and GNAQ were also reported to play a crucial role in melanin synthesis. In addition, this study is the first to reveal gene and protein variations in in the “Yufen I” H line during Columbian feather color development and to discover principal genes and proteins that will aid in functional genomics studies in the future. The results of the present study provide a significant conceptual basis for the future breeding schemes with the “Yufen I” H line and provide a basis for research on the mechanisms of feather pigmentation.

Background: Coloration is one of the most recognizable characteristics in chickens, and clarifying the coloration mechanisms will help us understand feather color formation. “Yufen I” is an commercial egg-laying chicken breed in China, that was developed by a three-line cross using lines H, N and D. Columbian plumage is a typical feather character of the “Yufen I” H line. To elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying pigmentation of Columbian plumage, this study utilizes the technology of high-throughput sequencing to compare the transcriptome and proteome differences in different feather follicular tissue, including the dorsal neck with black and white striped feather follicles (Group A) and the ventral neck with white feather follicles (Group B) in the “Yufen I” H line. Results: In this study, we identified a total of 21,306 genes and 5203 proteins in chicken feather follicles. Among these, 209 genes and 382 proteins were differentially expressed in two different locations, Group A and Group B, respectively. A total of 8 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 9 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were found to be involved in the melanogenesis pathway. Besides, a specifically expressed MED23 gene and a differential expressed GNAQ protein were involved in melanin synthesis. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis mapped 190 DEGs and 322 DEPs, to 175 and 242 pathways, respectively, and there were 166 pathways correlated with both DEGs and DEPs. 49 DEPs/DEGs overlapped and were enriched for 12 pathways. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses revealed that the following pathways were activated: melanogenesis, cardiomycete adrenergic, calcium and the cGMP-PKG. The expression of DEGs was validated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) that was similar to that of RNA-seq. In addition, we found that MED23, FZD10, WNT7B and WNT11 genes expression peaked at approximately 8 weeks in the “Yufen I” H line, which is consistent with the molting cycle. As both the groups showed significant differences in terms of expression of the genes studied, this study opens up avenues for study in the future to assess their exact function in color of plumage. Conclusion: These common DEGs and DEPs were enriched in the melanogenesis pathway. The MED23 and GNAQ were also reported to have a crucial part synthesis of melanin. In addition, this study is the first to reveal variations in gene and protein in the “Yufen I” H line during Columbian feather color development, and discover principal genes and proteins that would aid in the functional genomics studies in future. The results of the present study provide a significant conceptual basis for the “Yufen I” H line future breeding schemes and provide a basis for research on the mechanisms of feather pigmentation.

Background: Intestinal health of livestock and poultry is the basis of their body health. Different expression of growth factors is important cause of intestinal dysfunction, which further induced the illness of livestock and poultry. S-Methylmethionine Sulfonium Chloride (SMMSC) is also the main metabolite of methionine in animals. However, there are few studies exploring the relationship between SMMSC and intestinal epithelial growth factors. Methods: Piglet jejunal epithelial cells IPEC-J2 were treated with different concentrations of SMMSC at 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mM for 24 h respectively. Then real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting (WB) were employed to detect the expression of Mucin-2 (MUC2), epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β1), glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Result: The results showed that 0.5 and 1 mM of SMMSC could stimulate the expression of MUC2, EGF, GLP-2 and IGF-1 while inhibit the expression of TGF-β1 in both mRNA and protein level (p less than 0.05). It is of great significance to repair intestinal mucosa injury, maintain intestinal mucosa barrier and promote intestinal development.

Egg laying is an important reproductive behavior of female poultry. This study aimed to clarify the correlations and variation patterns between the age (1-3 years) of breeding pigeons and the stability of their egg-laying performance and egg quality. 900 pairs of breeding pigeons aged 1-3 years (300 pairs per group) with stable pair bonds were selected and reared under identical conditions. Egg-laying indicators, egg quality traits, and nutritional components were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that clutch size was consistently 2 eggs, and oviposition interval was stably 2 days across all age groups. Notably, the duration of clutch pause was concentrated in the range of 9-13 days, exhibited a significant decreasing trend with increasing age (p < 0.001). The 3-year-old group also demonstrated superior yolk specific gravity, yolk color, unsaturated fatty acid content (especially linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid), and PUFA/SFA ratio. No significant differences were observed in amino acid composition or cholesterol content among the three age groups. Taken together, breeding pigeons maintain high egg-laying performance and superior egg quality up to 3 years of age. These findings provide a theoretical basis for maximizing the utilization of breeding pigeons during this 3-year core reproductive period, precisely optimizing breeding and management practices, and promoting the sustainable development of the pigeon industry.

The duodenum is a key site of nutrient digestion and absorption in meat pigeons, and its microbial community may be associated with host body weight and breast muscle development. In this study, the duodenal microbiota of European meat pigeons and Shiqi pigeons at 14 and 28 days of age were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. At 14 days of age, Firmicutes abundance was significantly higher in Shiqi pigeons than in European meat pigeons, whereas Proteobacteria showed the opposite pattern. Lactobacillus constituted the most abundant microbial group in both breeds. Spearman correlation analysis showed that Firmicutes and Lactobacillus were positively correlated with body weight and pectoral muscle percentage at 14 days of age, whereas Proteobacteria were negatively correlated with these traits. At 28 days of age, fewer between-breed differences in microbial community composition were detected; nevertheless, Firmicutes and Lactobacillus remained significantly positively correlated with body weight and pectoral muscle percentage in both breeds. These cross-sectional associations provide a preliminary reference for future studies of the duodenal microbiota and growth traits in meat pigeons.