Genome-Wide Identification and Transcriptional Expression of the METTL21C Gene Family in Chicken

Abstract

The chicken is a common type of poultry that is economically important both for its medicinal and nutritional values. Previous studies have found that free-range chickens have more skeletal muscle mass. The methyltransferase-like 21C gene (<i>METTL21C)</i> plays an important role in muscle development; however, there have been few reports on the role of <i>METTL21C</i> in chickens. In this study, we performed a genome-wide identification of chicken <i>METTL21C</i> genes and analyzed their phylogeny, transcriptional expression profile, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). We identified 10 <i>GgMETTL21C</i> genes from chickens, 11 from mice, and 32 from humans, and these genes were divided into six groups, which showed a large amount of variation among these three species. A total of 15 motifs were detected in <i>METTL21C</i> genes, and the intron phase of the gene structure showed that the <i>METTL21C</i> gene family was conservative in evolution. Further, both the transcript data and qPCR showed that a single gene's (<i>GgMETTL21C3)</i> expression level increased with the muscle development of chickens, indicating that the <i>METTL21C</i> genes are involved in the development of chicken muscles. Our results provide some reference value for the subsequent study of the function of <i>METTL21C.</i>