Abstract: The broiler methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene was cloned by RT-PCR, and the protein structure of broiler MTHFR was predicted by bioinformatics methods. The expression levels in different tissues were detected by qPCR. The results showed that the broiler MTHFR cDNA (GenBank accession No: KU351685) was 2 342 bp in length, which coded 651 amino acids. The phylogenetic tree analysis indicated the broiler MTHFR was closely related to mallard and swan goose. The broiler MTHFR protein contained conserved MTHFR superfamily domain and was hydrophilicity protein. The secondary structure of MTHFR protein mainly contained α-helix (38.71%) and random coil (36.41%). The residing probability of MTHFR in the cytoplasmic and nuclear was 60.9% and 30.4%, respectively. By qPCR, different mRNA expression levels of broiler MTHFR were detected in all the 8 investigated tissues. Among them, heart showed the highest expression levels and muscle of legs had the lowest expression levels. In addition, the MTHFR expression levels in offspring liver of broiler breeders were significantly increased under folate deficiency in the maternal diets (P<0.01). These results will provide the data for further research of MTHFR gene structure and function, and dietary folic acid supplementation in poultry production.

Key words: broiler, MTHFR gene, abdominal adipose, expression patterns