First transcriptomic insight into the working muscles of racing pigeons during a competition flight

The currently known homing pigeon is a result of a sharp one-sided selection for flight characteristics focused on speed, endurance, and spatial orientation. This has led to extremely well-adapted athletic phenotypes in racing birds.

Here, we identify genes and pathways contributing to exercise adaptation in sport pigeons by applying next-generation transcriptome sequencing of m.pectoralis muscle samples, collected before and after a 300 km competition flight.

The analysis of differentially expressed genes pictured the central role of pathways involved in fuel selection and muscle maintenance during flight, with a set of genes, in which variations may therefore be exploited for genetic improvement of the racing pigeon population towards specific categories of competition flights.

The presented results are a background to understanding the genetic processes in the muscles of birds during flight and also are the starting point of further selection of genetic markers associated with racing performance in carrier pigeons.