Integrative transcriptomic analysis reveals tissue associated molecular responses to heat stress in chickens.
8 affiliations
- 1College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
- 2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
- 3College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
- 4Department of Livestock Production and Management, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS- Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
- 5Department of Agricultural Economics and Animal Production, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga, Limpopo, 0727, South Africa.
- 6School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University, Chengdu, 610106, China.
- 7State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding, National Research Facility for Phenotypic and Genotypic Analysis of Model Animals (Beijing), College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
- 8College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Climate change is intensifying extreme heat events that compromise poultry health, welfare, and productivity. Although RNA-seq has been widely used to investigate heat stress responses, individual studies are constrained by small sample sizes, experimental heterogeneity, and discordant differential expression signatures, limiting the identification of conserved molecular responses across tissues. We conducted an integrative analysis of 11 independent RNA-seq datasets comprising 212 samples (110 liver, 62 breast muscle, and 40 heart) from broiler chickens exposed to heat stress. Differential expression analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and multi-criteria consensus filtering were combined to identify cross-validated hub genes. We identified conserved hepatic, and breast muscle transcriptional responses that showed distinct tissue associated division of labor model. Liver exhibited metabolic reprogramming involving altered gluconeogenic and fatty acid metabolic pathways, including PCK1 and ACACB, together with changes in insulin-PPAR signaling. Breast muscle showed activation of p53 mediated cell cycle arrest and proteostatic responses involving CDKN1A and DNAJA4. Heart exhibited transcriptional changes in adrenergic-calcium signaling, including CACNA1H and PPP3CA, together with suppression of extracellular matrix remodeling. Transcription factor (TF) activity inference using decoupleR and orthology-mapped DoRothEA regulons suggested tissue associated regulatory patterns involving HSF2, NCOA3, and MEF2A/MEF2C in liver; FOXO4, SOX9, and SP-family TFs in breast muscle; and reduced MEF2A/MEF2C, TEAD1, and JUN activity in heart. This integrative framework identifies high confidence candidate genes and regulatory networks validated by multiple analytical approaches, providing molecular candidates for subsequent genomic and functional studies of climate resilience in poultry.
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BibTeX
@article{nawaz2026integrative,
title = {{Integrative transcriptomic analysis reveals tissue associated molecular responses to heat stress in chickens.}},
author = {Ali Hassan Nawaz and Munwar Ali and Shaokat Ali and Jiqiang Ding and Ying Duan and Muhammad Sayyam Akram and Nasir Mukhtar and Ting Xu and Xiaoli Shi and Thobela Louis Tyasi and Diyan Li and Yiqiang Zhao and Chungang Feng},
journal = {Poultry science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.psj.2026.107884},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42854502},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Integrative transcriptomic analysis reveals tissue associated molecular responses to heat stress in chickens.
AU - Ali Hassan Nawaz
AU - Munwar Ali
AU - Shaokat Ali
AU - Jiqiang Ding
AU - Ying Duan
AU - Muhammad Sayyam Akram
AU - Nasir Mukhtar
AU - Ting Xu
AU - Xiaoli Shi
AU - Thobela Louis Tyasi
AU - Diyan Li
AU - Yiqiang Zhao
AU - Chungang Feng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Poultry science
DO - 10.1016/j.psj.2026.107884
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42854502
AB - Climate change is intensifying extreme heat events that compromise poultry health, welfare, and productivity. Although RNA-seq has been widely used to investigate heat stress responses, individual studies are constrained by small sample sizes, experimental heterogeneity, and discordant differential expression signatures, limiting the identification of conserved molecular responses across tissues. We conducted an integrative analysis of 11 independent RNA-seq datasets comprising 212 samples (110 liver, 62 breast muscle, and 40 heart) from broiler chickens exposed to heat stress. Differential expression analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and multi-criteria consensus filtering were combined to identify cross-validated hub genes. We identified conserved hepatic, and breast muscle transcriptional responses that showed distinct tissue associated division of labor model. Liver exhibited metabolic reprogramming involving altered gluconeogenic and fatty acid metabolic pathways, including PCK1 and ACACB, together with changes in insulin-PPAR signaling. Breast muscle showed activation of p53 mediated cell cycle arrest and proteostatic responses involving CDKN1A and DNAJA4. Heart exhibited transcriptional changes in adrenergic-calcium signaling, including CACNA1H and PPP3CA, together with suppression of extracellular matrix remodeling. Transcription factor (TF) activity inference using decoupleR and orthology-mapped DoRothEA regulons suggested tissue associated regulatory patterns involving HSF2, NCOA3, and MEF2A/MEF2C in liver; FOXO4, SOX9, and SP-family TFs in breast muscle; and reduced MEF2A/MEF2C, TEAD1, and JUN activity in heart. This integrative framework identifies high confidence candidate genes and regulatory networks validated by multiple analytical approaches, providing molecular candidates for subsequent genomic and functional studies of climate resilience in poultry.
SN - 0032-5791
SN - 1525-3171
ER -