The chicken gizzard is the primary digestive and absorptive organ regulating food intake and metabolism. Body weight is a typical complex trait regulated by an interactive polygene network which is under the control of an interacting network of polygenes. To simplify these genotype–phenotype associations, the gizzard is a suitable target organ to preliminarily explore the mechanism underlying the regulation of chicken growth through controlled food intake. This study aimed to identify key food intake‐related genes through combinatorial GWAS and transcriptome analysis. We performed GWAS of body weight in an F₂ intercrossed population and transcriptional profiling analysis of gizzards from chickens with different body weight. We identified a major 10 Mb quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 1 and numerous minor QTL distributed among 24 chromosomes. Combining data regarding QTL and gizzard gene expression, two hub genes, MLNR and HTR2A, and a list of core genes with small effect were found to be associated with food intake. Furthermore, the neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction pathway was found to play a key role in regulating the appetite of chickens. The present results show the major–minor gene interactions in metabolic pathways and provide insights into the genetic architecture and gene regulation during food intake in chickens.

中文翻译：

---

通过组合全基因组关联研究和转录组分析确定了鸡肉中与食物摄入相关的基因。

鸡izz是调节食物摄入和新陈代谢的主要消化和吸收器官。体重是由交互式多基因网络调节的典型复杂性状，该网络在多基因的相互作用网络的控制下。为了简化这些基因型与表型的关联，,是一个合适的靶器官，可以通过控制摄食量初步探索调节鸡生长的基本机制。这项研究旨在通过组合GWAS和转录组分析来鉴定与食物摄入有关的关键基因。在F ₂进行体重的GWAS了体重不同的鸡g的交叉交配种群和转录谱分析。我们在1号染色体上发现了一个主要的10 Mb定量性状基因座（QTL），并在24个染色体之间分布了许多次要的QTL。结合有关QTL和g基因表达的数据，发现两个毂基因MLNR和HTR2A以及一系列影响较小的核心基因与食物摄入有关。此外，发现神经活性的配体-受体相互作用途径在调节鸡的食欲中起关键作用。目前的结果显示了代谢途径中主要-次要基因的相互作用，并提供了对鸡肉进食过程中遗传结构和基因调控的见解。