Expression of genes related to lipid transport in meat-type ducks divergent for low or high residual feed intake.

Objective: This study examined the effects of divergence in residual feed intake (RFI) on expression profiles of key genes related to lipid transport in the liver and duodenal epithelium and their associations with feed efficiency traits in meat-type ducks.

Methods: A total of 1000 male ducks with similar body weight (1042.1  87.2 g) were used in this study, and their individual RFI was calculated from 21 to 42 d of age. Finally, the 10 highest RFI (HRFI) and 10 lowest RFI (LRFI) ducks were chosen for examining the expression of key genes related to lipid transport in the liver and duodenal epithelium using quantitative PCR.

Results: In the liver, expression levels of albumin (ALB), CD36 molecule (CD36), fatty acid hydroxylase domain containing 2 (FAXDC2), and choline kinase alpha (CHKA) were significantly higher in LRFI ducks than in HRFI ducks (p < 0.01); negative correlations (p < 0.05) between expression levels of ALB, CD36, FAXDC2, and CHKA and RFI were detected in the liver. Additionally, ALB expression was strongly positively correlated (p < 0.05) with CD36, FAXDC2, CHKA, and apolipoprotein H (APOH) expression in the liver. In duodenal epithelium, we found that mRNA levels of ALB, CD36, FAXDC2, and APOH were significantly higher in LRFI ducks than in HRFI ducks (p < 0.01); RFI was strongly negatively correlated (p < 0.05) with ALB, FAXDC2, and APOH expression, while ALB expression was strongly positively correlated with APOH expression (p < 0.01) in duodenal epithelium. Furthermore, expression levels of both ALB and FAXDC2 genes were significantly associated with feed conversion ratio and RFI in both liver and duodenal epithelium (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings therefore suggest that ALB and FAXDC2 genes might be used as potential gene markers designed to improve feed efficiency in future meat-type duck breeding programs.