Abstract:

【Objective】 An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of maternal feed restriction on offspring liver fat deposition and the liver lipid metabolism, in order to find out the effect of maternal nutrition and offspring compensation. 【Method】Three hundred and eighty-four fat and lean line broiler breeders bred by Northeast Agricultural University were, respectively divided into two treatments. During the laying period, treatment one was fed normally, and the daily feed intake of treatment two was 75% of treatment one. The eggs were collected and hatched when the laying rate rose to the peak. The offspring were given ad libitum access to standard diets until 56 days. 【Result】 The results showed that the maternal feed restriction significantly increased the thigh muscle fat rate of 28 day (P＜0.05), the difference at 56 day was not significant (P＞0.05). Strain had a significant effect on the liver fat rate (P＜0.05), the fat line was higher than lean line (P＜0.05). There was a significant interaction between strain and feed level on the liver fat rate and 28 day breast muscle fat rate (P＜0.05). The abdominal fat percentage between two strains was different significantly (P＜0.01). At 56 day , strain had a significant effect on the fatty acid synthetase (FAS) activity, and the interaction effect between the strain and feed level was significant (P＜0.05). The expression of liver FAS gene of 1 day was affected significantly by strain (P＜0.05), the effect of the interaction between the strain and feed level on the expression of liver FAS gene of 28 days was significant (P＜0.05). The maternal feed restriction significantly increased the expression of liver FAS gene of 28 days (P＜0.05), the difference at 56 days was not significant (P＞0.05). 【Conclusion】 The results demonstrated that the maternal feed restriction had effects on the fat deposition, and the trend between the two strains was different. The strain had a significant effect on the FAS activity at 56 days (P＜0.05), and the interaction effect between the strain and feed level was significant (P＜0.05). Maternal effect on the liver FAS mRNA expression and the offspring compensation were observed in the offspring.

Key words: feed restriction, fat and lean line, broiler breeder, fat deposition, fatty acid synthetase