Chicken hepatic response to chronic heat stress using integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis

Abstract

The liver plays a central role in metabolism and is important in maintaining homeostasis throughout the body. This study integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic data to understand how the liver responds under chronic heat stress. Chickens from a rapidly growing broiler line were heat stressed for 8 hours per day for one week and liver samples were collected at 28 days post hatch. Transcriptome analysis reveals changes in genes responsible for cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, and DNA repair along with immune function. Integrating the metabolome and transcriptome data highlighted multiple pathways affected by heat stress including glucose, amino acid, and lipid metabolism along with glutathione production and beta-oxidation.