The genetic role of TCF21 in regulating growth traits and body composition in ross 308 broilers
The gene TCF21, a subject of growing interest in molecular poultry genetics being an important player in cell differentiation and muscle and adipose tissue growth regulation has been recognized as an emerging regulatory gene. The study aimed to evaluate the potential use of molecular markers in selection, breeding, and improvement programs. This study included 100 samples of ROSS 308 broiler chickens, which were reared for 40 days. Field measurements were taken weekly, including body weight, body length, and chest width every two weeks. At 20 days of age, blood was collected in K3- EDTA tubes for laboratory analysis, including DNA extraction PCR and Sequencing. TCF21 is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family of transcription factors and available evidence has suggested that it presents significant biological and molecular features. It’s thought to be involved with regulating the growth of muscle and fat tissue, and has been reported to influence body weight, growth rate, body composition and fat deposition capacity in broilers. On more recent reports, these polymorphisms were associated with several economically important traits, suggesting that TCF21 can be exploited as a molecular marker in contemporary selection programs aimed at improving productive performance and carcass quality in poultry. Combining genomic with phenotype information in genetic-improvement schemes is a big advance toward accurate and efficient commercial broiler production programs. The study aimed to focus on the TCF21 gene because it is one of the most prominent candidates directly related to the efficiency of production and profitability of poultry projects, given its role in regulating muscle formation, fat deposition, and some traits associated with feed conversion efficiency. The results showed the presence of several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the TCF21 gene. Fourteen mitochondrial loci were identified, distributed across the two primaries used (seven variants each), reflecting significant genetic diversity in the studied regions. These results confirm the health of TCF21, as it can be one of the candidate combinations that contribute to the regulation of morphology and histogenesis through its effect on the differentiation of muscle and fat cells.