Applied bioinformatics to assay genetic networks of resistance to heat stress in native chicken

Heat stress strongly affects poultry production. Selection of chickens resistant to heat stress can be a suitable strategy to reduce the negative effects of global temperature increase on chicken breeding. In this study, a gene network based on the data from previous studies about the effect of thermal stress on the expression of genes in the chickens was created. Five genetic groups including 109 genes were identified in this network. A gene network analysis showed that genes of heat-shock proteins (HSPs), cochaperones, immune genes and cell structural genes exhibited strong relationships. Then comparing the expression of Iranian native chicken genes and Ross breed showed that the three genetic families in native chickens of Iran were more strongly expressed than Ross commercial breed. Therefore, there is a potential of genetic resistance to heat stress in chicken, which needs to be investigated in an experimental study.