Sami DridiEditorial on the Research Topic
Fat metabolism and deposition in poultry: physiology, genetics, nutrition Volume II
As we described in our previous editorial for volume I of this Research Topic, modern broilers have been subjected to extensive genetic selection to improve feed efficiency and achieve high growth rate and muscle yield. However, this has concomitantly led to excessive fat deposition, which has increased the incidence of metabolic and cardiac disorders along with elevated sudden death rate (Squires and Summers, 1993; Chen et al., 2017; Olkowski et al., 2020).
In continuity to the volume I, where we gathered several elegant papers describing the ontology of lipid metabolism in fat tissue and omics-associated factors regulating hepatic fat metabolism in chickens, we invited outstanding authors and pioneer scientists to further provide and highlight additional knowledges through innovative scientific research.
Andrieux and others have optimized the embryonic thermo-conditioning that increased foie gras production without quality alteration and this effect was mediated via hepatic metabolism reprogramming (Andrieux et al.).
Luo and co-workers determined, by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and untargeted metabolomics, the main volatile organic compounds (VOC) in chicken breast muscle and abdominal fat (Luo et al.). They identified nine VOCs in both tissues and found that amino acids are the main precursors of 1-octen-3-ol, (E,E)-2, 4-nonadienal, and heptanal in chicken meat, while fatty acids are the main precursors of diethyl disulfide. Hexanal, however, can be synthesized from amino acids and small amounts of fatty acids as precursors.
Hicks and colleagues investigated the hepatic cell cycle transcriptional profile and network during the metabolic switch in broilers. They used high throughput RNA-seq to identify the transcriptome profile and differences in and between the liver of E18 embryos and 2-day post hatch chicks fed or not fed from hatch. Hundred of differentially expressed genes were identified between the abovementioned groups and I encourage the readers to check this manuscript (Hicks et al.).
Kong et al., on the other hand, used integrated high throughput metabolomics and lipidomics to evaluate the alterations of flavor precursors in chicken breast muscle-affected with white striping. The white striping myopathy, first appeared in 2009 (Bauermeister et al., 2009), is visually characterized by white fat striations parallel to muscle fibers on the breast (Kuttappan et al., 2013), and is of increasing concern to the industry and consumer because of the unappealing appearance and altered flavor of the affected filets. Although its etiology is still unknown, white striping has been reported to have histological lesions, including myo-degeneration and necrosis, lymphocyte, fat, and macrophage infiltration, fibrosis, and lipidosis (Trocino et al., 2015). Here, Kong and co-workers found that white striping-affected breast was distinguished from normal unaffected breast by a decreased level of E-nose, and four volatile compounds (o-xylene, benzene, 1,3-dimethyl, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl and acetic acid and ethyl ester) (Kong et al., 2022). Lipidomics analyses revealed increased levels of neutral lipid and decreased phospholipids in white striping-affected muscle. Metabolomics analyses showed an alteration of 16 metabolites, including water-soluble flavor precursors such as AMP, GDP-fucose, and L-arginine in white striping-affected muscles.
In summary, the studies reported in the current Research Topic used managerial manipulation (thermo-conditioning) and cutting-edge techniques and provided some mechanistic understanding of hepatic lipid metabolism and white striping myopathy. However, although the Research Topic is a research hot spot, four published papers is quite low and represent a limitation, and I hope that in the future we will attract more investigators and more manuscripts.
Author contributions
SD: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
The authors declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.
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References
Bauermeister, L. J., Morey, A. U., Moran, E. T., Singh, M., Owens, C. M., and Mckee, S. (2009). Occurrence of white striping in chicken breast fillets in relation to broiler size. Poult. Sci. 88, 104. doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1142398
Chen, C. Y., Lin, H. Y., Chen, Y. W., Ko, Y. J., Liu, Y. J., Chen, Y. H., et al. (2017). Obesity-associated cardiac pathogenesis in broiler breeder hens: Pathological adaption of cardiac hypertrophy. Poult. Sci. 96, 2428–2437. doi:10.3382/ps/pex015
Kong, F., Bai, L., He, Z., Sun, J., Tan, X., Zhao, D., et al. (2022). Integrated metabolomics and lipidomics evaluate the alterations of flavor precursors in chicken breast muscle with white striping symptom. Front. Physiol. 13, 1079667. doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.1079667
Kuttappan, V. A., Shivaprasad, H. L., Shaw, D. P., Valentine, B. A., Hargis, B. M., Clark, F. D., et al. (2013). Pathological changes associated with white striping in broiler breast muscles. Poult. Sci. 92, 331–338. doi:10.3382/ps.2012-02646
Olkowski, A. A., Wojnarowicz, C., and Laarveld, B. (2020). Pathophysiology and pathological remodelling associated with dilated cardiomyopathy in broiler chickens predisposed to heart pump failure. Avian Pathol. 49, 428–439. doi:10.1080/03079457.2020.1757620
Squires, E. J., and Summers, J. D. (1993). A consideration of comparative metabolic aspects of the aetiology of sudden death syndrome and ascites in broilers. Br. Vet. J. 149, 285–294. doi:10.1016/s0007-1935(05)80174-5
Keywords: fat metabolism, thermo-conditioning, omics, chickens, ducks
Citation: Dridi S (2023) Editorial: Fat metabolism and deposition in poultry: physiology, genetics, nutrition Volume II. Front. Physiol. 14:1264512. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1264512
Received: 20 July 2023; Accepted: 25 July 2023;
Published: 01 August 2023.
Edited and reviewed by:
Sandra G. Velleman, The Ohio State University, United StatesCopyright © 2023 Dridi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Sami Dridi, dridi@uark.edu