• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

The objective of the present study was to determine the expression of genes associated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced stressor in two breeds of chickens: the Korean native chicken (KNC) and the White Leghorn chicken (WLH). Forty chickens per breed, aged 40 weeks, were randomly allotted to the control (CON, administered the saline vehicle) and LPS-injected stress groups. Samples were collected at 0 and 48 h post-LPS injection, and total RNA was extracted from the chicken livers for RNA microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses. In response to LPS, 1,044 and 1,193 genes were upregulated, and 1,000 and 1,072 genes were downregulated in the KNC and WLH, respectively, using a ${\geq}2$-fold cutoff change. A functional network analysis revealed that stress-related genes were downregulated in both KNC and WLH after LPS infection. The results obtained from the qRT-PCR analysis of mRNA expression of heat shock 90 (HSP90), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR), activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), and X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) were confirmed by the results of the microarray analysis. There was a significant difference in the expression of stress-associated genes between the control and LPS-injected KNC and WLH groups. The qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the stress-related $HSP90{\alpha}$ and HMGCR genes were downregulated in both LPS-injected KNC and WLH groups. However, the HSP70 and $HSP90{\beta}$ genes were upregulated only in the LPS-injected KNC group. The results suggest that the mRNA expression of stress-related genes is differentially affected by LPS stimulation, and some of the responses varied with the chicken breed. A better understanding of the LPS-induced infective stressors in chicken using the qRT-PCR and RNA microarray analyses may contribute to improving animal welfare and husbandry practices.