就巢在家养禽类中普遍存在,主要表现为食欲减退、停止产蛋并开始孵化等行为变化。此外,就巢期禽类的卵巢及输卵管的生理形态也会发生显著的变化。禽类就巢性是一种由常染色体上的多基因控制的低遗传力性状,主要受环境因素、内分泌因素和遗传因素的影响。就巢性的研究最初开始于对禽类就巢行为特征的观测,随着技术的发展,逐渐深入到禽类就巢性的遗传方式、内分泌因素、就巢性候选基因及其多态性的研究。近几年随着高通量测序技术的发展,利用基因组学、转录组学和多组学联合分析来筛选与禽类就巢性相关的候选基因和信号通路,同时调控禽类就巢性的分子机制也逐渐被揭示。本文从不同层面对调控禽类就巢性的基因、microRNAs和信号通路进行了综述,以期为后续探究禽类就巢性的具体分子机制提供参考。

Broodiness is a behavior commonly occurring in the poultry industry, which is characterized by inappetence, egg-laying cessation and incubation. Different from laying fowls, the ovary and oviduct of broodiness fowls is degenerate. Broodiness is a low heritability trait, which is controlled by multiple genes in autosomes and influenced by three factors, including environment, endocrine and genetics. In addition to the observation of behavioral characteristics, the current research of broodiness focuses on evaluating the genetic mode, endocrine factors, nesting candidate genes and their polymorphisms in poultry. Given the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing, the joint analyses of genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics have been used to screen out the candidate genes, pathways and molecular mechanism of broodiness. In this review, we summarize the candidate genes, microRNAs and pathways involved in broodiness to provide a reference for further research on poultry broodiness.