In recent decades, artificial selection has contributed greatly to meeting the demands for animal meat, eggs, and milk. However, it has also resulted in changes in behavior, metabolic and digestive function, and alterations in tissue development, including the brain and skeleton. Our study aimed to profile the behavioral traits and transcriptome pattern of chickens (broilers, layers, and dual-purpose breeds) in response to artificial selection. Broilers spent less time gathered as a group in a novel arena (P < 0.01), suggesting reduced fearfulness in these birds. Broilers also showed a greater willingness to approach a model predator during a vigilance test but had a greater behavioral response when first exposed to the vocalization of the predator. Genes found to be upregulated and downregulated in previous work on chickens divergently selected for fear responses also showed consistent differences in expression between breeds in our study and indicated a reduction in fearfulness in broilers. Gene ACTB_G1 (actin) was differentially expressed between breeds and is a candidate gene involved with skeletal muscle growth and disease susceptibility in broilers. Furthermore, breed-specific alterations in the chicken domestic phenotype leading to differences in growth and egg production were associated with behavioral changes, which are probably underpinned by alterations in gene expression, gene ontology terms, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. The results highlight the change in behavior and gene expression of the broiler strain relative to the layer and a dual-purpose native breed.

中文翻译：

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转录组的变化是不同类型鸡行为特征改变的基础。

近几十年来，人工选择为满足动物肉，蛋和牛奶的需求做出了巨大贡献。然而，它也导致了行为，代谢和消化功能的改变，以及包括大脑和骨骼在内的组织发育的改变。我们的研究旨在剖析响应人工选择的鸡（肉仔鸡，蛋鸡和两用种）的行为特征和转录组模式。肉鸡在一个新颖的竞技场中花在一组上的时间更少（P<0.01），表明这些鸟类的恐惧感有所降低。肉鸡还表现出了更高的在警惕性测试中接近模型捕食者的意愿，但是当首次接触捕食者的声音时，它们具有更大的行为反应。在我们先前的研究中，发现因恐惧反应而分化选择的鸡的基因上调和下调的基因也显示出在我们的研究中不同品种之间表达的一致性是一致的，并且表明肉鸡的恐惧感有所降低。基因ACTB_G1（肌动蛋白）在不同品种之间差异表达，是与肉鸡骨骼肌生长和疾病易感性有关的候选基因。此外，导致家禽生长表型和产蛋量差异的种鸡特定表型改变与行为改变有关，这可能是由于基因表达，基因本体论术语以及《京都议定书》的基因和基因组途径改变。结果突出了肉鸡品系的行为和基因表达相对于蛋鸡层和双重用途本地品种的变化。