Cloning the Chicken Leptin Gene

Chicken is characterized by a relative insulin resistance and a physiological hyperglycemia (2g/L) and is also subjected to fattening. Fat deposits in chicken, as in mammals, are regulated by environmental and genetic factors. In mammals, leptin, an adipose cell-specific secreted protein has been characterized that is encoded by ob gene. Leptin regulates satiety through hypothalamic specific receptors, energy balance, energy efficiency and contributes to adaptation to starvation. The leptin gene has been characterized in various mammalian species, and the cloning and sequencing of the chicken leptin gene (ob gene) are reported. Using RT-PCR and primers flanking the coding region of the leptin gene selected from known mammalian sequences, we have successfully amplified a 600-bp fragment from chicken liver and adipose tissue total ARNs. The amplified fragment exhibits a similar size to that of the coding region of the mammalian leptin gene. The sequences of the coding region of chicken liver and adipose tissue are identical and presented 97%, 96% and 83% similarity to the mouse, rat and human sequences, respectively. Finally, this is the first report showing that leptin gene expression in chicken is not exclusively localized in adipose tissue but is also expressed in liver. The expression of leptin in liver may be associated with a key role of this organ in avian species in controlling lipogenesis.