Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin, and plays an important role in regulating gene expression and methylation. The liver is the major site of lipid biosynthesis in the chicken. Nevertheless, how gene expression and regulatory networks are affected by folic acid in liver of broilers are poorly understood. This paper conducted the RNA-seq technology on the liver of broilers under folic acid challenge investigation. First, 405 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 157 significantly upregulated and 248 downregulated, were detected between the control group (C) and the 5 mg folic acid group (M). Second, 68 upregulated DEGs and 142 downregulated DEGs were determined between C group and 10 mg folic acid group (H). Third, there were 165 upregulated genes and 179 downregulated genes between M and H groups. Of these DEGs, 903 DEGs were successfully annotated in the public databases. The functional classification based on GO and KEEGG showed that “general function prediction only” represented the largest functional classes, “cell cycle” (C vs. M; M vs. H), and “neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction” (C vs. H) were the highest unique sequences among three groups. SNP analysis indicated that numbers of C, M and H groups were 145,450, 146,131, and 123,004, respectively. Total new predicted alternative splicing events in C, M, and H groups were 9,521, 9,328, and 8,929, respectively. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, and the top 10 hub genes were evaluated among three groups. The results of real time PCR indicated that mRNA abundance of PPARγ and FAS in abdominal fat of M and H groups were reduced compared with the C group (P < 0.05). Ultramicroscopy results showed that folic acid could reduce lipid droplets in livers from chickens. Finally, contents of LPL, PPARγ, and FAS in abdominal fat were decreased with the folic acid supplmented diets (P < 0.01). These findings reveal the effects of folic acid supplemention on gene expression in liver of broilers, which can provide information for understanding the molecular mechanisms of folic acid regulating liver lipid metabolism.

叶酸是一种水溶性 B 族维生素，在调节基因表达和甲基化中起重要作用。肝脏是鸡体内脂质生物合成的主要场所。然而，人们对肉鸡肝脏中的叶酸如何影响基因表达和调控网络知之甚少。本文对叶酸激发下肉鸡肝脏进行了RNA-seq技术研究。首先，在对照组（C）和5mg叶酸组（M）之间检测到405个差异表达基因（DEG），包括157个显着上调和248个下调。其次，在 C 组和 10 mg 叶酸组 (H) 之间确定了 68 个上调的 DEG 和 142 个下调的 DEG。第三，M组和H组之间有165个上调基因和179个下调基因。在这些 DEG 中，在公共数据库中成功注释了 903 个 DEG。基于 GO 和 KEEGG 的功能分类表明，“仅一般功能预测”代表了最大的功能类别、“细胞周期”（C vs. M；M vs. H）和“神经活性配体-受体相互作用”（C vs. H) 是三组中最高的独特序列。SNP 分析表明，C、M 和 H 组的数量分别为 145,450、146,131 和 123,004。C、M 和 H 组中新预测的可变剪接事件总数分别为 9,521、9,328 和 8,929。构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，并在三组中评估了前 10 个中枢基因。实时荧光定量 PCR 结果表明 mRNA 丰度 基于 GO 和 KEEGG 的功能分类表明，“仅一般功能预测”代表了最大的功能类别、“细胞周期”（C vs. M；M vs. H）和“神经活性配体-受体相互作用”（C vs. H) 是三组中最高的独特序列。SNP 分析表明，C、M 和 H 组的数量分别为 145,450、146,131 和 123,004。C、M 和 H 组中新预测的可变剪接事件总数分别为 9,521、9,328 和 8,929。构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，并在三组中评估了前 10 个中枢基因。实时荧光定量 PCR 结果表明 mRNA 丰度 基于 GO 和 KEEGG 的功能分类表明，“仅一般功能预测”代表了最大的功能类别、“细胞周期”（C vs. M；M vs. H）和“神经活性配体-受体相互作用”（C vs. H) 是三组中最高的独特序列。SNP 分析表明，C、M 和 H 组的数量分别为 145,450、146,131 和 123,004。C、M 和 H 组中新预测的可变剪接事件总数分别为 9,521、9,328 和 8,929。构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，并在三组中评估了前 10 个中枢基因。实时荧光定量 PCR 结果表明 mRNA 丰度 H) 是三组中最高的独特序列。SNP 分析表明，C、M 和 H 组的数量分别为 145,450、146,131 和 123,004。C、M 和 H 组中新预测的可变剪接事件总数分别为 9,521、9,328 和 8,929。构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，并在三组中评估了前 10 个中枢基因。实时荧光定量 PCR 结果表明 mRNA 丰度 H) 是三组中最高的独特序列。SNP 分析表明，C、M 和 H 组的数量分别为 145,450、146,131 和 123,004。C、M 和 H 组中新预测的可变剪接事件总数分别为 9,521、9,328 和 8,929。构建了蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，并在三组中评估了前 10 个中枢基因。实时荧光定量 PCR 结果表明 mRNA 丰度PPARγ 和 FAS 与C组相比，M组和H组的腹部脂肪减少（磷< 0.05)。超显微镜结果表明，叶酸可以减少鸡肝脏中的脂滴。最后，补充叶酸的日粮降低了腹部脂肪中 LPL、PPARγ 和 FAS 的含量。磷< 0.01)。这些发现揭示了叶酸补充对肉鸡肝脏基因表达的影响，为了解叶酸调控肝脏脂质代谢的分子机制提供信息。