Genomic selection (GS) accelerates genetic improvement in poultry, but the high cost of high-density SNP arrays limits its large-scale application. Here, we developed and validated a cost-effective 10 K SNP array for chickens based on 55 K array data from 58,496 individuals across 16 commercial lines. The genome-wide panel comprises 10,000 SNPs using a multi-step strategy that integrated the fixation index (FST), parentage-informative markers, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) pruning. Population genetic analyses showed that the 10 K array effectively captured major genetic diversity and clearly distinguished among groups. Genomic relationship estimates derived from the 10 K and 55 K arrays were highly concordant (r = 0.992), and genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for seven traits showed strong correlations between the two platforms (r ≈ 0.97). Imputation from the 10 K to the 55 K array largely restored predictive accuracy to high-density levels, especially when the reference panel contained full-sibling individuals. These results indicate that the 10 K SNP array achieves an effective balance between cost and performance, and that a low-density plus imputation strategy is effective when a high-quality reference panel is available.

Background: The Qingyuan partridge chicken is a high-quality local chicken breed in China. Its weight gain directly affects breeding efficiency. This study used RNA sequencing to analyze gene expression dynamics in the breast muscle tissue of Qingyuan partridge chickens at 1, 35, 70, and 105 days of age. Methods: This study employed RNA-sequencing, integrated with differential expression analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), and short time-series expression miner (STEM) analysis, to systematically investigate the transcriptomic dynamics in breast muscle tissue across four developmental stages. Results: Phenotypic analysis revealed a significant increase in both body weight (BW) and breast muscle weight with age (p < 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis identified 3521 genes specifically expressed at the age of one day compared with the other 3 ages. These were significantly enriched in pathways related to ribosomal biosynthesis, cytoskeletal regulation, and cell proliferation (p < 0.05). Turquoise and black modules were identified by WGCNA, containing 1563 hub genes, which significantly correlated with BW. Integration of differentially expressed genes and STEM analysis selected 26 BW-related key genes closely associated with muscle growth, including calmodulin 2 (CALM2), heat shock protein 90 alpha family class A member 1 (HSP90AA1), and cholinergic receptor nicotinic delta subunit (CHRND). Protein-protein interaction analysis revealed two functional networks centered around these genes. Enrichment analysis of the STEM profiles indicated that upregulated genes were significantly enriched in autophagy and the ErbB, FoxO, mTOR, and insulin signaling pathways, while genes related to the ribosome, cell cycle, and PPAR signaling pathways were downregulated. Conclusions: This study identified BW-related key genes and pathways, enriching our knowledge of the functional maintenance of chicken BW.

Introduction: Investigating the genetic markers and genomic signatures related to chicken meat production by combing multi-omics methods could provide new insights into modern chicken breeding technology systems. Object: Chicken is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly livestock, especially the fast-growing white-feathered chicken (broiler), which is well known for high meat yield, but the underlying genetic basis is poorly understood. Method: We generated whole-genome resequencing of three purebred broilers (n = 748) and six local breeds/lines (n = 114), and sequencing data of twelve chicken breeds (n = 199) were obtained from the NCBI database. Additionally, transcriptome sequencing of six tissues from two chicken breeds (n = 129) at two developmental stages was performed. A genome-wide association study combined with cis-eQTL mapping and the Mendelian randomization was applied. Result: We identified > 17 million high-quality SNPs, of which 21.74% were newly identified, based on 21 chicken breeds/lines. A total of 163 protein-coding genes underwent positive selection in purebred broilers, and 83 genes were differentially expressed between purebred broilers and local chickens. Notably, muscle development was proven to be the major difference between purebred broilers and local chickens, or ancestors, based on genomic and transcriptomic evidence from multiple tissues and stages. The MYH1 gene family showed the top selection signatures and muscle-specific expression in purebred broilers. Furthermore, we found that the causal gene SOX6 influenced breast muscle yield and also related to myopathy occurrences. A refined haplotype was provided, which had a significant effect on SOX6 expression and phenotypic changes. Conclusion: Our study provides a comprehensive atlas comprising the typical genomic variants and transcriptional characteristics for muscle development and suggests a new regulatory target (SOX6-MYH1s axis) for breast muscle yield and myopathy, which could aid in the development of genome-scale selective breeding aimed at high meat yield in broiler chickens. (c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Cairo University.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) content is an important indicator of livestock and poultry meat quality. Enhancing IMF deposition can significantly improve meat quality. Focusing on the core process of IMF deposition, this study used the Jingxing Yellow (JXY) chickens as a model organism and employed multi-omics approaches, including RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq), Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), and metabolomics, to identify the key genes influencing IMF deposition in chickens during development. The results indicated that the contents of triglycerides (TG) and phospholipids (PLIP) exhibited an upward trend. The TG content did not differ significantly between day 1 (D1) and day 7 (D7), but increased significantly after 35 days (D35) of age. The WGBS results revealed that CpG methylation was the predominant methylation type in the breast muscle tissue of JXY chickens. Integrative analysis of RNA-seq and WGBS identified 50 genes, including PLA2G4F, PALMD, PLSCR5, ARHGEF26, LUM, DCN, TNRC6B, CACNA1C, ROBO1, and MBTPS2, whose methylation levels were significantly negatively correlated with their expression levels. In addition, the combined Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of differentially-expressed metabolites (DEM) and differentially-expressed genes (DEG) converged on the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway, which was significantly enriched in DEGs such as PLA2G4F, PLA2G15, LPIN1, MBOAT2, DGKH, AGPAT2, and CHKA, as well as DEM like glycerophosphocholine and phosphocholine. Notably, PLA2G4F was identified as a DEG by DNA methylation, suggesting that PLA2G4F could be a key candidate gene influencing IMF deposition during chicken development. These findings are expected to provide a solid theoretical foundation for improving meat quality through targeted genetic and epigenetic interventions.

Background Intramuscular fat (IMF) is an important factor in meat quality, and triglyceride (TG) and Phospholipids (PLIP), as the main components of IMF, are of great significance to the improvement of meat quality. Results In this study, we used 30 RNA sequences generated from the transcriptome of chicken breast muscle tissues at different developmental stages to construct a gene expression matrix to map RNA sequence reads to the chicken genome and identify the transcript of origin. We used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and identified 27 co-expression modules, 10 of which were related to TG and PLIP. We identified 150 highly-connected hub genes related to TG and PLIP, respectively, which were found to be mainly enriched in the adipocytokine signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, mTOR signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, and TGF-beta signaling pathway. Additionally, using the BioMart database, we identified 134 and 145 candidate genes related to fat development in the TG-related module and PLIP-related module, respectively. Among them, RPS6KB1, BRCA1, CDK1, RPS3, PPARGC1A, ACSL1, NDUFAB1, NDUFA9, ATP5B and PRKAG2 were identified as candidate genes related to fat development and highly-connected hub genes in the module, suggesting that these ten genes may be important candidate genes affecting IMF deposition. Conclusions RPS6KB1, BRCA1, CDK1, RPS3, PPARGC1A, ACSL1, NDUFAB1, NDUFA9, ATP5B and PRKAG2 may be important candidate genes affecting IMF deposition. The purpose of this study was to identify the co-expressed gene modules related to chicken IMF deposition using WGCNA and determine key genes related to IMF deposition, so as to lay a foundation for further research on the molecular regulation mechanism underlying chicken fat deposition.

本文总结了2022年国内外肉鸡产业发展形势,剖析了我国肉鸡产业发展存在的问题,并就肉鸡产业的未来发展趋势做出预判,最后提出对策建议.

Phagocytosis of macrophages constitutes a powerful barrier to innate immunity. Differences in the phagocytic function of macrophages among chicken breeds have rarely been reported, and the molecular mechanisms underlying phagocytosis remain poorly understood. This study compared functional difference of macrophages in Dagu chickens, originated in Zhuanghe, Liaoning Province, China, and Wenchang chickens, originated from Hainan Island in the South China Sea, and explored the potential molecular mechanisms by integrated analysis of mRNA expression profiles of macrophages and whole genome sequencing. Immunological parameters in peripheral blood indicated that Dagu chickens were more resistant to Salmonella challenge at 28 days old. Phagocytosis index and phagocytosis rate of macrophages displayed Dagu chickens performed a significantly higher phagocytic ability of macrophages at 14 and 28 days old. Furthermore, comparative analysis of mRNA expression profiles of macrophages of two breeds at 28 days old revealed that 1136 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and 22 DEGs (e.g., H2AFZ, SNRPA1, CUEDC2, S100A12) were found to be hub genes regulating phagocytosis by participating in different immunological biological signaling pathways. In addition, many DEGs and hub genes were under strong differentiation in genome between two breeds, the H2AFZ gene was an intersection of DEGs and hub genes. These results provided a comprehensive functional comparison and transcriptomic profiles of macrophages in Chinese native chicken breeds, and deepened our understanding of the genetic mechanism of innate immunity.

为分析基因组选择在黄羽肉鸡中的选育效果,研究对金陵花鸡终端父系E系的42日龄体重(Body weight at 42 days,bw42)、56日龄体重(Body weight at 56 days,bw56)、剩余采食量(Residual feed intake,RFI)和腹脂率(Abdominal fat percentage,AFP)等性状进行了4个世代的选育,并对选育性状的遗传参数、选育效果和基因组选择参考群更新策略进行评价.结果显示:bw42、bw56、AFP、RFI遗传力分别为0.248、0.233、0.463、0.130,AFP与bw42、bw56、RFI的遗传相关分别为0.12、0.149、0.519,4个世代选育后bw42、bw56、AFP、RFI性状选育效果较好,参考群更新后对性状的预测准确性更高.研究表明金陵花鸡bw42和bw56为中等遗传力性状,AFP为高遗传力性状,RFI为低遗传力性状,体重与AFP为正遗传相关,AFP与RFI为强的正遗传相关,bw42、bw56、RFI和AFP等性状的表型和育种值进展均与选育方向一致,E系群体的参考群更新策略有效,但是参考群补充数量偏少.

San-Huang chicken is a high-quality breed in China with yellow feather, claw and break. However, the abnormal phenomenon of the yellow shank turning into green shank of San-Huang chicken has been a concern, as it seriously reduces the carcass quality and economic benefit of yellow-feathered broilers. In this study, the cause of this abnormal green skin in shank was systematically investigated. Physiological anatomy revealed that the abnormal skin in shank was primarily due to the deposition of melanin under the dermis. After analyzing multiple potential causes such as heredity (pedigree and genetic markers), environment (water quality monitoring) and feed composition (mycotoxin detection), excessive aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in feed was screened, accompanied with a higher L-dihydroxy-phenylalanine (L-DOPA) (P<0.05) and melanin content (P<0.01). So it was speculated that excessive AFB1 might be the main cause of abnormal green skin in shank. Subsequently, the further results showed that a high concentration of AFB1 (>170 μg kg–1) indeed induced the abnormal green skin in shank compared to the normal AFB1 content (<10 μg kg–1), and the mRNA levels of TYR, TYRP1, MITE, MC1R and EDN3 genes related to melanin deposition would significantly up-regulate (P<0.01) and the content and activity of tyrosinase (TyR) significantly increased (P<0.05). At the same time, the content of L-DOPA and melanin deposition also increased significantly (P<0.01), which also confirmed the effect of excessive AFB1 on melanin deposition in skin of shank. Results of additional experiments revealed that the AFB1’s negative effect on melanin deposition in skin of shank could last for a longer time. Taken together, the results of this study explained the occurrence and possible mechanisms of the abnormal AFB1-related green skin in shank of chickens. Excessive AFB1 in diets increased the L-DOPA content and melanin abnormal deposition in the chicken shank possibly via promoting TyR content and activity, and the expression of melanin synthesis-related genes. Furthermore, our findings once again raised the alarm of the danger of AFB1 in the broiler production.

Quantification of leukocyte profiles is among the simplest measures of animal immune function. However, the relationship between H/L ratio and innate immunity and the measure's utility as an index for heterophil function remains to be analyzed. Variants associated with H/L ratio were fine-mapped based on the resequencing of 249 chickens of different generations and an F2 segregating population generated by crossing selection and control lines. H/L ratio in the selection line was associated with a selective sweep of mutations in protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type J (PTPRJ), which affects proliferation and differentiation of heterophils through its downstream regulatory genes. The SNP downstream of PTPRJ (rs736799474) have a universal effect on H/L, with CC homozygotes exhibiting improved heterophil function because of downregulated PTPRJ expression. In short, we systematically elucidated the genetic basis of the change in heterophil function resulting from H/L selection by identifying the regulatory gene (PTPRJ) and causative SNP.

Introduction: The proportion of animal based foods in daily diet of consumers is constantly increasing, with chicken being highly favored due to its high protein and low fat characteristics. The consumption of chicken around the world is steadily increasing. Intramuscular fat (IMF) is a key indicator affecting meat quality. Object: High IMF content can contribute to improve the quality of chicken meat. The regulatory mechanism of IMF deposition in chicken is poorly understood, so its complete elucidation is essential to improve chicken meat quality. Method: Here, we performed whole genome resequencing on 516 yellow feather chickens and single-cell RNA sequencing on 3 63-day-old female JXY chickens. In addition, transcriptome sequencing techniques were also performed on breast muscle tissue of JXY chickens at different developmental stages. And 13C isotope tracing technique was applied. Results: In this study, a large-scale genetic analysis of an IMF-selected population and a control population identified fatty acid synthase (FASN) as a key gene for improving IMF content. Also, contrary to conventional view, de novo lipogenesis (DNL) was deemed to be an important contributor to IMF deposition. As expected, further analyses by isotope tracing and other techniques, confirmed that DNL mainly occurs in myocytes, contributing about 40% of the total fatty acids through the regulation of FASN, using the available FAs as substrates. Additionally, we also identified a relevant causal mutation in the FASN gene with effects on FA composition. Conclusion: These findings contribute to the understanding of fat metabolism in muscle tissue of poultry, and provide the feasible strategy for the production of high-quality chicken meat.

旨在通过对北京油鸡(BY)和"广明2号"白羽肉鸡B系(广明白鸡,GM)在热应激和正常饲养条件下的脾脏转录组进行分析,鉴定两鸡种在应对热应激时的差异表达基因和信号通路,解析不同鸡种耐热性能差异的分子调控机制.试验动物采用相同饲养条件下的25日龄北京油鸡和广明白鸡,测定异嗜性粒细胞与淋巴细胞的比值(H/L)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)等表型数据,采集脾脏组织进行转录组测序(RNA-Seq).基于RNA-Seq数据,结合表型进行加权基因共表达网络分析(WGCNA),筛选出与性状相关性较高的模块与基因.脾脏转录组测序结果表明,热应激组相比于对照组,北京油鸡中共鉴定到313个差异表达基因,其中169个上调表达,144个下调表达;广明白鸡中鉴定到235个差异表达基因,其中152个上调表达,83个下调表达.利用WGCNA分析,在北京油鸡中筛选出2个与H/L相关性较高的模块,在广明白鸡中筛选出4个与H/L和T-AOC强相关的模块.通过筛选模块中的Hub基因,发现两品种中均存在TRIM29基因,说明该基因可能在抗热应激方面发挥重要作用.本研究通过转录组分析,揭示了不同鸡种在热应激下基因的表达差异规律,并鉴定到与耐热相关的候选基因,为进一步研究鸡的耐热机制提供了新的思路和线索.

The genetic composition of populations is the result of a long-term process of selection and adaptation to specific environments and ecosystems. Runs of homozygosity (ROHs) are homozygous segments of the genome where the 2 haplotypes inherited from the parents are identical. The detection of ROH can be used to describe the genetic variability and quantify the level of inbreeding in an individual. Here, we investigated the occurrence and distribution of ROHs in 40 Beijing-You Chickens from the random breeding population (BJY_C) and 40 Beijing-You Chickens from the intramuscular fat (IMF) selection population (BJY_S). Principal component analysis (PCA) and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses showed that BJY_C was completely separated from the BJY_S. The nucleotide diversity of BJY_C was higher than that of BJY_S, and the decay rate of LD of BJY_C was faster. The ROHs were identified for a total of 7,101 in BJY_C and 9,273 in BJY_S, respectively. The ROH-based inbreeding estimate (F-ROH) of BJY_C was 0.079, which was significantly lower than that of BJY_S (F-ROH - 0.114). The results were the same as the estimates of the inbreeding coefficients calculated based on homozygosity (F-HOM), the correlation between uniting gametes (F-UNI), and the genomic relationship matrix (F-GRM). Additionally, the distribution and number of ROH islands in chromosomes of BJY_C and BJY_S were significantly different. The ROH islands of BJY_S that included genes associated with lipid metabolism and fat deposition, such as CIDEA and S1PR1, were absent in BJY_C. However, GPR161 was detected in both populations, which is a candidate gene for the formation of the unique five-finger trait in Beijing-You chickens. Our findings contributed to the understanding of the genetic diversity of random or artificially selected populations, and allowed the accurate monitoring of population inbreeding using genomic information, as well as the detection of genomic regions that affect traits under selection.

Salmonella is one of the most common food-borne pathogens and its resistance in chicken can be improved through genetic selection. The heterophils/lymphocytes (H/L) ratio in the blood reflects the immune system status of chicken. We compared the genome data and spleen transcriptomes between the H/L ratio-selected and non-selected chickens, after Salmonella infection, aiming to identify the key genes participating in the antibacterial activity in the spleen. The results revealed that, the selected population had stronger (P<0.05) liver resistance to Salmonella typhimurium (ST) than the non-selected population. In the selected and non-selected lines, the identified differentiation genes encode proteins involved in biological processes or metabolic pathways that included the TGF-beta signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, and Salmonella infection pathway. The results of the analysis of all identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of spleen revealed that the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) signaling pathways were involved in the Salmonella infection pathway. Integrated analysis of DEGs and FST (fixation index), identified candidate genes involved in Salmonella infection pathway, such as GPR39, NTRK2, and ANXA1. The extensive genomic changes highlight the polygenic genetic of the immune response in these chicken populations. Numerous genes related to the immune performance are differentially expressed in the selected and non-selected lines and the selected lines has a higher resistance to Salmonella.

旨在比较结合全基因组关联分析(genome-wide association study,GW AS)先验标记信息的基因组育种值(genomic estimated breeding value,GEBV)估计与基因组最佳线性无偏预测(genomic best linear unbiased predic-tion,GBLUP)方法对鸡剩余采食量性状育种值估计的准确性,为提高基因组选择准确性提供理论与技术支持.本研究选用广西金陵花鸡3个世代共2 510个个体作为素材,其中公鸡1 648只,母鸡862只,以42～56日龄期间的剩余采食量(residual feed intake,RFI)为目标性状,将试验群体随机分为两组,其中一组作为先验标记信息发现群体,用于GW AS分析并筛选最显著的top5％、top10％、topl5％和top20％的位点作为先验标记信息;另外一组分别结合不同的先验标记信息进行遗传参数估计并比较基因组育种值的预测准确性,使用重复10次的五倍交叉验证法获取准确性,随后两组群体再进行交叉验证.研究结果表明,GBLUP计算RFI的遗传力为0.153,预测准确性为0.387～0.429,结合GWAS先验标记信息的基因组选择方法计算RFI的遗传力为0.139～0.157,预测准确性为0.401～0.448.将GWAS结果中P值最显著的top10％～top15％的SNPs作为先验信息整合至基因组选择模型中可以将RFI的预测准确性提升2.10％～5.17％.

项目组历经十余年的技术攻关和推广应用,发明了国内首款肉鸡育种SNP芯片——京芯一号,建立了快捷、精准、高效的肉鸡基因组选择技术体系,培育出性能优异的白羽肉鸡和黄羽肉鸡新品种2个,产业化应用效益显著.

H5N1 avian influenza virus (AIV) is a highly pathogenic influenza virus that poses a substantial threat to poultry production and public health. A comprehensive understanding of host–pathogen interactions for AIV requires knowledge of gene expression changes in both the pathogen and the host upon infection. We report the use of dual RNA sequencing technology to uncover trends in gene expression in H5N1 AIV and chickens (DF1 cells) during the course of infection. The expression of all viral genes increased continuously from 0 to 20 h post infection. We also identified 2,762 differentially expressed host genes during infection. Pathway analysis found that genes related to the signaling pathways of DNA replication, T cell activation, NF-kappa B signaling pathway, and RNA degradation were significantly enriched. We demonstrated that the cis-acting lncRNA MSTRG.14019.1 targeted CSE1L and may affect virus replication. This study provides a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of host-virus interactions at the RNA level during the course of H5N1 AIV infection.

我国白羽肉鸡育种中,通过遗传途径提高产蛋数和控制合适的蛋重是培育优良品系的一个重要方面.为探索适合我国白羽肉鸡育种中的基因组选择模型,本研究以2 474只白羽肉鸡品系的产蛋性状为研究对象,主要分析了机器学习算法 KAML、BLUP(包括:PBLUP、GBLUP、SSGBLUP)和 Bayes(包括:Bayes A、Bayes B 和 Bayes Cπ)方法对产蛋数和蛋重性状的预测准确性,准确性以5倍交叉验证进行评估.利用系谱以及基因组信息估计了产蛋数和蛋重性状的遗传力和遗传相关.结果表明,产蛋数性状遗传力为0.061～0.16,属于低遗传力性状;蛋重遗传力为0.28～0.39,属于中等遗传力性状;产蛋数与蛋重是中等遗传负相关(-0.518～-0.184),不同阶段产蛋数之间是强的遗传正相关(0.736～0.998).不同模型预测43周产蛋数和52周蛋重的育种值估计准确性结果表明,KAML方法对两者的预测准确性分别为0.115和0.266,与GBLUP方法(准确性分别为0.118和0.283)和SSGBLUP方法(准确性分别为0.136和0.259)的准确性差异显著,同时显著低于Bayes方法(准确性分别为0.230～0.239、0.336～0.340)的预测准确性,PBLUP方法预测准确性最低(准确性分别为0.095和0.246).因此,在白羽肉鸡产蛋数和蛋重性状中应用Bayes方法将获得最高的育种值估计准确性.

Background Egg production is economically important in the meat-type chicken industry. To better understand the molecular genetic mechanism of egg production in meat-type chicken, genetic parameter estimation, genome-wide association analyses combined with meta-analyses, Bayesian analyses, and selective sweep analyses were performed to screen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and other genetic loci that were significantly associated with egg number traits in 11,279 chickens from seven material lines. Results Yellow-feathered meat-type chickens laid 115 eggs at 43 weeks of age and white-feathered chickens laid 143 eggs at 60 weeks of age, with heritability ranging from 0.034–0.258. Based on meta-analyses and selective sweep analyses, one region (10.81–13.05 Mb) on chromosome Z was associated with egg number in all lines. Further analyses using the W2 line was also associated with the same region, and 29 SNPs were identified that significantly affected estimation of breeding value of egg numbers. The 29 SNPs were identified as having a significant effect on the egg number EBV in 3194 birds in line W2. There are 36 genes in the region, with glial cell derived neurotrophic factor, DAB adaptor protein 2, protein kinase AMP-activated catalytic subunit alpha 1, NAD kinase 2, mitochondrial, WD repeat domain 70, leukemia inhibitory factor receptor alpha, complement C6, and complement C7 identified as being potentially affecting to egg number. In addition, three SNPs (rs318154184, rs13769886, and rs313325646) associated with egg number were located on or near the prolactin receptor gene. Conclusion Our study used genomic information from different chicken lines and populations to identify a genomic region (spanning 2.24 Mb) associated with egg number. Nine genes and 29 SNPs were identified as the most likely candidate genes and variations for egg production. These results contribute to the identification of candidate genes and variants for egg traits in poultry.

Due to high selection advances and shortened generation interval, genomic selection (GS) is now an effective animal breeding scheme. In broilers, many studies have compared the accuracy of different GS prediction methods, but few reports have demonstrated phenotypic or genetic changes using GS. In this study, the paternal chicken line B underwent continuous selection for 3 generations. The chicken 55 k SNP chip was used to estimate the genetic parameters and detect genomic response regions by selective sweep analysis. The heritability for body weight (BW), meat production, and abdominal fat traits were ranged from 0.12 to 0.38. A high genetic correlation was found between BW and meat production traits, while a low genetic correlation (<0.1) was found between meat production and abdominal fat traits. Selection resulted in an increase of about 516 g in BW and 140 g in breast muscle weight. Percentage of breast muscle and whole thigh were increased 0.8 to 1.5%. No change was observed in abdominal fat percentage. The genomic estimated breeding value advances was positive for BW and meat production (except whole thigh percentage), while negative for abdominal fat percentage. By selective sweep analysis, 39 common chromosomal regions and 102 protein coding genes were found to be influenced, including MYH1A, MYH1B, and MYH1D of the MYH gene family. Tight junction pathway as well as myosin complex related terms were enriched. This study demonstrates the effective use of GS for improvements in BW and meat production in chicken line B. Further, genomic regions, responsive to intensive genetic selection, were identified to contain genes of the MYH family.