M. C. Ledur

Quantitative trait loci for performance traits in a broiler x layer cross.

An F(2) resource population, derived from a broiler x layer cross, was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for body weights at days 1, 35 and 41, weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency from 35 to 41 days and intestinal length. Up to 577 F(2) chickens were genotyped with 103 genetic markers covering 21 linkage groups. A preliminary QTL mapping report using this same population focused exclusively on GGA1. Regression methods were applied to line-cross and half-sib models for QTL interval mapping. Under the line-cross model, eight QTL were detected for body weight at 35 days (GGA2, 3 and 4), body weight at 41 days (GGA2, 3, 4 and 10) and intestine length (GGA4). Under the half-sib model, using sire as common parent, five QTL were detected for body weight at day 1 (GGA3 and 18), body weight at 35 days (GGA2 and 3) and body weight at 41 days (GGA3). When dam was used as common parent, seven QTL were mapped for body weight at day 1 (GGA2), body weight at day 35 (GGA2, 3 and 4) and body weight at day 41 (GGA2, 3 and 4). Growth differences in chicken lines appear to be controlled by a chronological change in a limited number of chromosomal regions.

Quantitative trait loci associated with fatness in a broiler-layer cross.

An F(2) population established by crossing a broiler male line and a layer line was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting abdominal fat weight, abdominal fat percentage and serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. Two genetic models, the line-cross and the half-sib, were applied in the QTL analysis, both using the regression interval method. Three significant QTL and four suggestive QTL were mapped in the line-cross analysis and four significant and four suggestive QTL were mapped in the half-sib analysis. A total of five QTL were mapped for abdominal fat weight, six for abdominal fat percentage and four for triglyceride concentration in both analyses. New QTL associated with serum triglyceride concentration were mapped on GGA5, GGA23 and GG27. QTL mapped between markers LEI0029 and ADL0371 on GGA3 for abdominal fat percentage and abdominal fat weight and a suggestive QTL on GGA12 for abdominal fat percentage showed significant parent-of-origin effects. Some QTL mapped here match QTL regions mapped in previous studies using different populations, suggesting good candidate regions for fine-mapping and candidate gene searches.

Estimates of genetic parameters, and cluster and principal components analyses of breeding values related to egg production traits in a White Leghorn population

The objectives of this paper were to identify the phenotypic egg-laying patterns in a White Leghorn line mainly selected for egg production, to estimate genetic parameters of traits related to egg production and to evaluate the genetic association between these by principal components analysis to identify trait(s) that could be used as selection criteria to improve egg production. Records of 54 wk of egg production from a White Leghorn population were used. The data set contained records of the length:width ratio of eggs at 32, 37, and 40 wk of age; egg weight at 32, 37, and 40 wk of age; BW at 54 and 62 wk of age; age at first egg; early partial egg production rate from 17 to 30 wk and from 17 to 40 wk of age; late partial egg production rate from 30 to 70 wk and from 40 to 70 wk of age; and total egg production rate (TEP). The estimates of genetic parameters between these traits were estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood method. Multivariate analyses were performed: a hierarchical cluster analysis, a nonhierarchical clustering analysis by the k-means method of weekly egg production rate to describe the egg-laying patterns of hens, and a principal components analysis using the breeding values of all traits. The highest heritability estimates were obtained for BW at 54 wk of age (0.68 ± 0.07) and age at first egg (0.53 ± 0.07). It is recommended that a preliminary clustering analysis be performed to obtain the population structure that takes into account the pattern of egg production, rather than the TEP, because hens may have the same final egg production with different patterns of egg laying. Early partial production periods were not good indicators for use in improving total egg production because these traits presented an overestimated genetic correlation with TEP because of the part-whole genetic correlation component. Egg production might be improved by selecting individuals based on TEP.

Genotypic characterization of microsatellite markers in broiler and layer selected chicken lines and their reciprocal F1s.

Populacoes experimentais de frangos tem sido desenvolvidas pelo mundo para mapeamento de QTLs, mas a caracterizacao genotipica delas nao e normalmente apresentada. O objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar genotipicamente duas geracoes F1 reciprocas e suas linhagens parentais com base na estimacao de parâmetros genotipicos. Estas geracoes F1 originaram duas populacoes brasileiras referencias para mapear QTLs. Os parâmetros avaliados foram: conteudo de informacao polimorfica (PIC), heterozigosidades observada e esperada e numero de alelos por loco nos cromossomos 1, 3 e 4. Todos os animais parentais e F1 de ambas as populacoes foram usados, em um total de 83 animais: 14 de uma linhagem de corte (TT) e 14 de uma linhagem de postura (CC), e 55 de suas geracoes reciprocas F1. Tanto as linhagens como as populacoes referencias foram desenvolvidas no Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Suinos e Aves (EMBRAPA), Brasil. Os genotipos de todos os animais foram obtidos a partir de 34 marcadores microssatelites localizados nos cromossomos 1 (13), 3 (12) e 4 (9). Com base na amostragem realizada, as duas linhagens exibiram um total de 163 alelos, dos quais 31 (31,1%) e 44 (33,0%) foram oriundos exclusivamente de CC e TT, respectivamente, com frequencias alelicas que variaram de 0,03 a 0,82. A heterozigosidade observada foi maior (0,68-0,71) em ambas as geracoes F1 do que em suas linhagens fundadoras devido ao desequilibrio de ligacao. Finalmente, as duas linhagens parentais possibilitaram a obtencao de geracoes reciprocas F1 com valores elevados de PIC (0,50-0,52) e heterozigosidade observada, bem como com um numero satisfatorio de alelos por loco (4,06-4,32). Estes resultados permitirao comparar e selecionar familias e marcadores microssatelites mais informativos em estudos de QTLs, reduzindo os custos de genotipagem.

Quantitative differential expression of alpha and beta ryanodine receptor genes in PSE (Pale, Soft, Exudative) meat from two chicken lines: broiler and layer

ABSTRACT Total RNA isolated from Pectoralis major muscle from PSE (L* 24h >53.0, pH 0.05) in α-ryr gene expression regardless of line studied. The β-ryr RQ results suggested that in PSE samples an alteration might occur in the regular ratio (1:1) of α-RyR/β-RyR normally found in avian muscles. These results provided the first evidence of PSE meat occurrence as a result of the differential expression of ryanodine receptor genes which might lead to an increased in Ca 2+ availability at the cell milieu. Key words: malignant hyperthermia, poultry, gene expression, real time PCR * Author for correspondence: mshimo@uel.br

QTL for percentage of carcass and carcass parts in a broiler x layer cross

An F2 experimental population, developed from a broiler layer cross, was used in a genome scan of QTL for percentage of carcass, carcass parts, shank and head. Up to 649 F2 chickens from four paternal half-sib families were genotyped with 128 genetic markers covering 22 linkage groups. Total map length was 2630 cM, covering approximately 63% of the genome. QTL interval mapping using regression methods was applied to line-cross and half-sib models. Under the line-cross model, 12 genome-wide significant QTL and 17 suggestive linkages for percentages of carcass parts, shank and head were mapped to 13 linkage groups (GGA1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18 and 27). Under the paternal half-sib model, six genome-wide significant QTL and 18 suggestive linkages for percentages of carcass parts, shank and head were detected on nine chicken linkage groups (GGA1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, 14, 15 and 27), seven of which seemed to corroborate positions revealed by the previous model. Overall, three novel QTL of importance to the broiler industry were mapped (one significant for shank% on GGA3 and two suggestive for carcass and breast percentages on GGA14 and drums and thighs percentage on GGA15). One novel QTL for wings% was mapped to GGA3, six novel QTL (GGA1, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 27) and suggestive linkages (GGA2, 4, and 5) were mapped for head%, and suggestive linkages were identified for back% on GGA2, 11 and 12. In addition, many of the QTL mapped in this study confirmed QTL previously reported in other populations.

Large-scale SNP genotyping in crosses between outbred lines: how useful is it?

Although genome-wide association (GWA) studies are not worth the effort in crosses between inbred lines, many crosses are actually made up of divergent yet outbred populations. Despite its relevance, however, this experimental setting has not been studied at a time when SNP microarrays are available in many species. To assess whether GWA can be useful in this setting, we performed combined coalescence—gene dropping simulations. We studied the influence of marker density, QTL effect and QTL allele frequency on power, false discovery rate (FDR) and accuracy. Our results suggest that GWA in outbred F2 crosses is useful, especially in large populations. Under these circumstances, accuracy increased and FDR decreased as compared with classical linkage analysis. However, current SNP densities (in the order of 30–60 K SNPs/genome or equivalent to 10–20 SNPs per cM) may not be much better than linkage analysis and higher SNP densities may be required. SNP ascertainment had an important effect; the best option was to select SNPs as uniformly as possible without setting any restriction on allele frequency. Using only SNPs with fixed alternative alleles in each breed controlled false positive rate but was not useful to detect variability within lines. Finally, the most significant SNP was not necessarily the closest to the causal SNP, although the closest SNPs were usually above the significance threshold; thus, it is prudent to follow-up significant signals located in regions of interest even if they do not correspond to absolute maxima.

Comparison of logistic and neural network models to fit to the egg production curve of White Leghorn hens

Neural networks are capable of modeling any complex function and can be used in the poultry and animal production areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using neural networks on an egg production data set and fitting models to the egg production curve by applying 2 approaches, one using a nonlinear logistic model and the other using 2 artificial neural network models [multilayer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function]. Two data sets from 2 generations of a White Leghorn strain that had been selected mainly for egg production were used. In the first data set, the mean weekly egg-laying rate was ascertained over a 54-wk egg production period. This data set was used to adjust and test the logistic model and to train and test the neural networks. The second data set, covering 52 wk of egg production, was used to validate the models. The mean absolute deviation, mean square error, and R(2) were used to evaluate the fit of the models. The MLP neural network had the best fit in the test and validation phases. The advantage of using neural networks is that they can be fitted to any kind of data set and do not require model assumptions such as those required in the nonlinear methodology. The results confirm that MLP neural networks can be used as an alternative tool to fit to egg production. The benefits of the MLP are the great flexibility and their lack of a priori assumptions when estimating a noisy nonlinear model.

Segmented polynomial model for estimation of egg production curves in laying hens.

1. A model for estimating egg production curves in layers was developed and tested against other existing models. The model uses a three segment polynomial (constant-cubic-linear) and is reparameterised to estimate variables of practical importance. 2. The model predicted future production based on partial data better and estimated egg production curves as well as the currently existing models.

Identification and association of polymorphisms in CAPN1 and CAPN3 candidate genes related to performance and meat quality traits in chickens.

Meat quality is an important feature for the poultry industry and is associated with consumer satisfaction. The calpain 1 (CAPN1) gene is related to the tenderness process of meat post- mortem, and the calpain 3 (CAPN3) gene plays an important role in myofibrillar organization and growth. The objective of the present study was to identify polymorphisms in these genes and to determine the association between these polymorphisms and traits of economic interest in poultry. Eleven animals (F₁) from an experimental poultry population at Embrapa Swine and Poultry were used to identify the polymorphisms. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found in the CAPN1 gene, and one SNP was found in the CAPN3 gene. A polymorphism from each gene was selected for genotyping in 152 chickens from the Embrapa F₂ experimental population and 311 chickens from a commercial population. Polymorphism g.2554T>C (CAPN1) was associated with body weight at 35 to 42 days, thigh weight, breast weight, carcass weight, and meat lightness content. SNP g.15486C>T (CAPN3) was associated with thigh yield, thawing-cooking loss, and shear force. Results suggest the possibility of using molecular markers in CAPN1 and CAPN3 genes as a tool for performance and meat quality traits in poultry breeding programs.