With the rapid development of the poultry breeding industry and highly intensive production management, the losses caused by stress responses are becoming increasingly serious. To screen candidate genes related to chicken stress and provide a basis for future research on the molecular mechanisms governing the effects of stress on chicken immune function, we successfully constructed a chicken stress model by exogenously introducing corticosterone (CORT). RNA-seq technology was used to identify and analyze the mRNA and enrichment pathways of the thymus in the stress model group and the control group. The results showed that there were 101 significantly differentially expressed genes (SDEGs) (Padj < 0.05, |log2fold changes| ≥ 1 and FPKM >1), of which 44 were upregulated genes, while 57 were downregulated genes. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis found that the terms related to immunity or stress mainly included antigen processing and presentation, positive regulation of T cell-mediated immunity, and immune effector process. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that the main pathways related to immunity or stress were the PPAR signaling pathway, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, and intestinal immune network for IgA production. Among the SDEGs, XCL1, HSPA8, DMB1 and BAG3 are strongly related to immunity or stress and may be important genes involved in regulating stress affecting the immune function of chickens. The above results provide a theoretical reference for subsequent research on the molecular regulatory mechanisms by which stress affects the immune function of poultry.

随着家禽养殖业的快速发展和高度集约化的生产管理，应激反应造成的损失日益严重。为了筛选与鸡应激相关的候选基因并为未来研究应激对鸡免疫功能影响的分子机制提供基础，我们通过外源性引入皮质酮（CORT）成功构建了鸡应激模型。采用RNA-seq技术对应激模型组和对照组胸腺mRNA及富集途径进行鉴定分析。结果显示，共有101个显着差异表达基因（SDEGs）（Padj < 0.05, |log2fold 变化| ≥ 1 且 FPKM >1)，其中 44 个为上调基因，57 个为下调基因。基因本体（GO）富集分析发现，与免疫或应激相关的术语主要包括抗原加工和呈递、T细胞介导免疫的正调控和免疫效应过程。京都基因和基因组百科全书（KEGG）通路分析表明，与免疫或应激相关的主要通路是 PPAR 信号通路、NOD 样受体信号通路和产生 IgA 的肠道免疫网络。在 SDEG 中，XCL1、HSPA8、DMB1和BAG3与免疫或应激密切相关，可能是参与调节应激影响鸡免疫功能的重要基因。上述结果为后续研究应激影响家禽免疫功能的分子调控机制提供了理论参考。