Comparison of the Transcriptomic studies in indigenous chicken versus IBL-80 broiler chicken

Kaur, J., Singh, P., Singh, Y., Dash, S.K. and Mukhopadhyay, C.S. 2024. Comparison of the transcriptomic studies in indigenous chicken versus IBL-80 broiler chicken. Indian Journal of Poultry Science, 59(3): 233–240. Indigenous chicken breeds have played a vital role in contributing towards nutritional security and economic assistance to the rural people in the nation. These birds are well adapted to the local environment and possesses resistance to a number of diseases. However, they lack performance in terms of growth characteristics for which they are not prefered for raising in commercial broiler farming. A study was conducted to compare lung and trachea tissue transcriptomic analysis data for three groups of chickens namely Aseel, Punjab Brown, and IBL80 commercial broiler. RNA-sequencing results provided 5,282 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Out of the total DEGs, 1478 from Aseel, were up-regulated and 930 were down-regulated. 1872 DEGs belonged to Punjab Brown in which 697 were up-regulated and 1175 down-regulated and IBL-80 exhibited 1931 DEGs but 714 were upregulated and 1217 downregulated. Interestingly, all three chicken groups revealed more downregulated DEGs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis led to most of the comparable terms among the chicken groups. The count of genes related to innate immunity were greater in Aseel compared to Punjab Brown and commercial broiler. The majority of genes were chemokines or chemokine receptors. Aseel exhibited relatively higher count of chemokines and chemokines receptor-related genes compared to Punjab Brown, and IBL-80 commercial broiler.