The genetic regulation of skeletal muscle development: insights from chicken studies

• Main Author: Wen LUO, Bahareldin A. ABDALLA, Qinghua NIE, Xiquan ZHANG
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Higher Education Press 2017-09-01
• Series: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering
• Subjects: chicken|epigenetic modification|miRNAs|skeletal muscle development|SNP|transcription factor
• Online Access: http://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/fileup/2095-7505/PDF/1494381204529-1379695701.pdf

Skeletal muscle development is a complex multi-process trait regulated by various genetic factors. The chicken embryo is an ideal model system for studying skeletal muscle development. However, only a small proportion of the genetic factors affecting skeletal muscle development have been identified in chicken. The aim of this review is to summarize recent knowledge about the genetic factors involved in the regulation of skeletal muscle development in the chicken, such as gene polymorphisms, epigenetic modification, noncoding RNAs and transcription factors, which can influence skeletal muscle development at the genome, epigenome, transcriptome and proteome levels. Research on the regulation of skeletal muscle development in chicken is not yet comprehensive and most of the candidate genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms related to chicken muscle growth remain to be verified in experimental studies. In addition, the data derived from transcriptome sequencing and genome-wide association studies still require further investigation and analysis and comprehensive studies on the regulation of chicken skeletal muscle development will continue as a major research focus.