WGCNA-based analysis of the plasma metabolome and identification of metabolic markers associated with meat production traits in broilers.

@article{su2026wgcnabased,
  title = {{WGCNA-based analysis of the plasma metabolome and identification of metabolic markers associated with meat production traits in broilers.}},
  author = {Zhiyong Su and Xu Wang and Xue Bai and Haoyu Wang and Yuan Zhou and Yuhang Sun and Li Leng},
  journal = {Poultry science},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.psj.2026.107872},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42887305},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - WGCNA-based analysis of the plasma metabolome and identification of metabolic markers associated with meat production traits in broilers.
AU  - Zhiyong Su
AU  - Xu Wang
AU  - Xue Bai
AU  - Haoyu Wang
AU  - Yuan Zhou
AU  - Yuhang Sun
AU  - Li Leng
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/02
JO  - Poultry science
DO  - 10.1016/j.psj.2026.107872
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42887305
AB  - Elucidating the metabolic regulatory mechanisms underlying meat production traits in broilers is essential to overcome the limitations of traditional breeding methods and to achieve precise genetic improvement. This study systematically investigated the metabolic basis of meat production traits and screened metabolic biomarkers suitable for selective breeding to enhance these traits. A total of 441 birds from Northeast Agricultural University broiler lines that were divergently selected for abdominal fat content were used as experimental material. Genetic parameters for body weight, abdominal fat content, and key meat production traits were estimated, followed by plasma non-targeted metabolomic analysis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to construct metabolite co-expression modules. Modules significantly correlated with pectoralis muscle and leg muscle ratios were identified, together with the corresponding enriched pathways. Additionally, hub metabolites were screened based on module membership (|MM| > 0.8) and gene significance (|GS| > 0.6), and their heritability and genetic correlations with meat production traits were estimated to identify potential metabolic markers. Genetic analysis revealed that, despite no significant difference in body weight at 7 weeks between the lean line (high-feed‑efficiency birds) and the fat line (low-feed‑efficiency birds), abdominal fat and key meat production traits showed significant divergence. Meat production traits demonstrated moderate to high heritability (h² ≥ 0.2). WGCNA identified metabolic modules associated with meat production traits, including tyrosine metabolism (brown module), amino acid biosynthesis (turquoise module), and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis (turquoise module) in both sexes. Additionally, in females, sulfur metabolism and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis (blue module) were also associated with meat production traits. Using stringent thresholds (|MM| > 0.8, |GS| > 0.6), 39 hub metabolites were screened (18 in males, 30 in females). Further evaluation integrating heritability and genetic correlation identified 11 candidate metabolic markers with moderate-to-high heritability (h² ≥ 0.2) and strong genetic correlation (rg ≥ 0.4) with meat production traits, including Engelhardione, LPC(18:1), LysoPE(20:4), isocitrate, and l-lysine. These findings indicate that pathways related to tyrosine metabolism and amino acid biosynthesis play important roles in meat production traits, and that 11 metabolic markers identified through the integration of WGCNA and genetic parameter analysis may support breeding strategies to enhance meat yield.
SN  - 0032-5791
SN  - 1525-3171
ER  -