DEMyo Project

About the project

DEMYo is an EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action project on myopathies in broiler chickens that addresses the challenge of understanding etiopathogenesis of wooden breast (WB), white striping (WS), and spaghetti meat (SM).
To meet increasing demands for high-value proteins, broiler selection programs driven by growth rate led to the development of WB, WS, and novel emerging and unexplored myopathies such as SM.
In light of the current situation DEMyo project will address important questions in today’s myopathies research:
Is it possible to detect myopathies in birds early age? Are there early differences between animals that will show myopathies at slaughter and the others or not? What’s the difference among animals developing WS, WB and SM?
The novelty of the present proposal lies in the innovative application of advanced methodologies based on omics platforms to understand the molecular mechanism involved in the development of broiler myopathies in both sexes. The added value of the project is in assessing of certain feeding strategies to mitigate the occurrence of these muscle abnormalities.

The main objectives are:

  • Evaluation of transcriptome of normal and SM, WB/SM, WB, and WS breasts in broilers.
  • Assessment of the occurrence of myopathies in females and males of fast-growing hybrids.
  • Determination of the chemical, fatty acid, amino acid and mineral composition, quality, and histology of normal meat, SM, WS, and WB breasts.
  • Effect of different dietary treatments on the occurrence of myopathies, performances and meat quality of broiler chickens.
  • Evaluation of the possible changes in chicken gut microbiome composition according to the experimental diets and, possibly, myopathy occurrence.

Project Information

Download DEMyo Brochure here!