我国年出栏黄羽肉鸡45亿只，羽毛为其重要的商品性状。羽毛生长发育状况直接影响其活体和屠体外观，对消费者满意度及其销售价格具有决定性影响。课题组前期研究表明，近15%的黄羽肉鸡会出现不同程度的羽毛发育不良；而日粮补充蛋氨酸可降低脱羽率，同时Wnt信号通路显著上调，但Wnt通路介导蛋氨酸代谢调控羽毛生长发育的机制尚不清楚。本项目以黄羽肉鸡为对象，研究胚胎期和生长全期羽毛的生长发育规律；利用鸡毛囊乳头细胞模型，借助特异抑制剂、激动剂、基因过表达和siRNA干扰手段，探究Wnt信号通路调控羽毛生长发育的机制；并通过蛋氨酸缺失-补足离体和在体模型，借助CoIP-MS和荧光素酶报告基因技术，从细胞、胚胎和机体三个层面研究蛋氨酸与Wnt受体在细胞膜、蛋氨酸及其代谢产物与Wnt通路在细胞内的Crosstalk机制，解析Wnt信号介导蛋氨酸调控毛囊发育和羽毛生长的机制，为解决黄羽肉鸡脱羽问题奠定理论基础。

In China, more than 4.5 billion yellow feather broilers are raised every year, and feathers are important commodity traits for the breeder. Feather growth and development conditions directly affect the appearance of live and carcasses, and has a adverse effect on consumer satisfaction and sold prices. Previous study by the group showed that, nearly 15% of yellow-feathered broilers had different degrees of feather dysplasia. We also found that the dietary supplementation with methionine reduced the rate of molting, while the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was up-regulated. However, the mechanism by which the Wnt/β-catenin pathway mediates methionine metabolism to regulate hair follicle development and feather growth is still unclear. In this project, the yellow feather broiler was used as the animal model, aim to study the growth and development of feathers during embryonic and growth stages. We use the chicken feather follicle dermal papilla cells model, and the pathway specific inhibitors, agonists, gene overexpression and siRNA interference, to explore the mechanism of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway regulating feather growth and development. In addition, through the methionine deletion-complementing in vitro and in vivo models, CoIP-MS, and luciferase reporter gene determination technology, we aim to analyze the crosstalk mechanism of methionine and Wnt/β-catenin membrane receptors in cell membrane, and the crosstalk between the methionine and Wnt/β-catenin pathway in cell cytoplasm. The understand of the mechanism of Wnt/β-catenin signaling mediated methionine regulation of feather follicle development and feather growth, will establish theoretical foundation for solving the feather molting problem of yellow feather broilers.