Alternative Transcription of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma in the Liver Is Associated with Fatness of Chickens

ABSTRACT

The expression of four transcription variant of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma gene (PPARG) (XM_015292931.1; XM_015292932.1; XM_015292933.1 and NM_001001460.1) in the liver of broilers was measured and its correlation with abdominal fat weight and relative abdominal fat content was investigated. The study was conducted with 92 slow-growing crossbred chickens (Cobb males x indigenous Green-legged Partridge female chickens) divided into fat and lean groups, according to their abdominal fat yield. The NM_001001460.1 transcriptwas upregulated with ratio of means 4.26 (p0.01) in the fat group in relation to the lean group. Expression of this transcript was highly correlated with relative abdominal fat content (0.71, p0.01) and abdominal fat weight (0.59, p0.01). Two SNPs are located in putative transcription factor binding sites. Mutation -991C>A disrupts PPAR while mutation -884C>T disrupts C/EBP putative binding site. The gene expression analysis of PPARg showed that the expression of the transcripts (NM_001001460.1) was more than four times higher in fat than in lean chickens. These results point out that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma NM_001001460.1 transcript could be candidate gene for determination of abdominal fat deposition in the chickens.