Raj Narayan

Single nucleotide polymorphism mining and nucleotide sequence analysis of Mx1 gene in exonic regions of Japanese quail

Aim: An attempt has been made to study the Myxovirus resistant (Mx1) gene polymorphism in Japanese quail. Materials and Methods: In the present, investigation four fragments viz. Fragment I of 185 bp (Exon 3 region), Fragment II of 148 bp (Exon 5 region), Fragment III of 161 bp (Exon 7 region), and Fragment IV of 176 bp (Exon 13 region) of Mx1 gene were amplified and screened for polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism technique in 170 Japanese quail birds. Results: Out of the four fragments, one fragment (Fragment II) was found to be polymorphic. Remaining three fragments (Fragment I, III, and IV) were found to be monomorphic which was confirmed by custom sequencing. Overall nucleotide sequence analysis of Mx1 gene of Japanese quail showed 100% homology with common quail and more than 80% homology with reported sequence of chicken breeds. Conclusion: The Mx1 gene is mostly conserved in Japanese quail. There is an urgent need of comprehensive analysis of other regions of Mx1 gene along with its possible association with the traits of economic importance in Japanese quail.

Genetic appraisal of four Japanese quail lines using microsatellites

Genetic appraisal of four specialized lines of quails developed at CARI Izatnagar: CARI UTTAM (CU), CARI UJJWAL (CJ), CARI SWETA (CS) and CARI PEARL (CP) were carried using quail-specific microsatellites to elucidate the present genetic constitution and diversity in light of breeding history. The microsatellite genotyping data generated from 44 polymorphic loci was analysed to arrive at various population parameters like allele distribution, polymorphic information content (PIC), heterozygosity, F-statistics, genetic distance, genetic identity and phylogenetic distribution of the four lines. Population parameters derived from microsatellite analyses were indicative of ample genetic diversity existent within and between four lines and some of the diversity indices corroborated well with the breeding history of four lines. Phylogenetic study revealed faithful clustering of individuals within a population together with no outliers however, overall relationship between the four lines thatindicated that CS and CP lines were phylogenetically closer to each other and CU stood distinctly apart, did not corroborate well with the breeding and selection history but, went down well with pair wise measures of diversity such as Neis genetic distance and Neis genetic identity.

Diversity analysis in two defined strains of Japanese quails using microsatellite markers

A study was conducted to evaluate genetic differences between two diverse Japanese quail strains, CARI UTTAM (CU) and CARI PEARL (CP) possessing variant genetic background due to long term selection and breeding programmes, using six polymorphic quail specific microsatellite markers. Results revealed variable population parameters with all the measures of genetic diversity PIC, Ne, Nei index, Ho, He and Shannon index (I) showing higher values for CU as compared to CP while three important F statistic estimates: FIS, FST and FIT were lower in CU. Intra-strain variability assessed through un-rooted dendrograms exhibited distinctly different dispersal patterns. The results correlated well with the breeding histories of these flocks indicating that CU was more diverse compared to CP. It was inferred that employment of half a dozen polymorphic microsatellites though insufficient, could yet provide valuable assessment of intra and inter strain diversities in such quail strains arisen due to unique breeding histories and evolutionary force (selection).

Assessment of immune-competence traits among native and cross bred chicken

A 3x3 diallel cross experiment between indigenous breeds [Ankleshwar (AN), Nicobari (NC)] and exotic breed (CARI Red) was carried out to study the immune-competence traits like humoral and cell mediated immune (CMI) response. A total of 540 birds were grouped into nine (three pure and six cross breeds, n=60/group) to conduct this 3 × 3 complete diallel cross experiment. Of which a total of 180 birds (n=20/group) were taken as representative birds as 10 male and 10 female from each genetic group to study the immuno-competence traits. Each bird was injected with 1 ml of 1% suspension of Sheep Red Blood Cells (SRBC) intravenously at 6th week of age to study the humoral immune response. The serum antibody titre against SRBC was measured by Heam agglutination (HA) test. After 10th week of age, the cell mediated immune response was assessed via intra-dermal injection of Phytohemagglutinin type P (PHA-P) on 3rd and 4th toe of the right foot of the chicken. The results of this study showed that there was significant difference (P<0.05) in humoral immune response between mating systems and genetic groups. The crossbreds showed significantly higher humoral and cell mediated immune response than purebreds. However, among purebreds, the CR showed better immune response. Moreover, the crosses of CR×NC showed higher humoral and Cell mediated immune response than others, followed by NC×CR. It is concluded that CARI Red as male and Nicobari as female showed better humoral and cell mediated immune response than others.

Effect of nano-material combination on various performance traits of Japanese quails.

Effect of combination of two nano-materials: Nano Germanium (NG) and Nano Selenium (NS) on Japanese quails was investigated. Five solutions(treatments) were prepared in such a way that: T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6 contained 10 & 5; 15 & 7.5; 20 & 10; 40 & 20 and 75 & 37.5 ppb of NG and NS (combined in each treatments) respectively while the solution: T1 (control) contained only distilled water. Respective solutions (@ 0.5ml/bird) were administered orally to birds daily for eight-weeks continuously. Highest egg production (hen-housed and hen-day) and best FCR (Kg feed per dozen eggs and Kg feed per Kg egg mass) was obtained in the T5, however, no significant difference in egg quality, carcass-traits and immune-competence could be observed between the control and treatments. It was inferred that oral administration of two combined nano-materials used in present study improved overall egg production in quails and the dose combination used in T5 was the best. Administration of the nano-combinations had no adverse effects on egg-quality, carcass-yield, slaughter traits and immune-competence.

Inheritance of plumage colour variations in a large flock of Japanese quail

1. The inheritance of various plumage colour variants and their underlying interactions were investigated in a large flock of Japanese quail maintained at CARI (India) by conducting reciprocal crosses between four breeding stocks inheriting Pharaoh, White Breasted, White and Brown plumages, followed by test crosses. 2. Based on the proportion of plumage-colour types in the progeny, putative genotypes were determined for parents and offspring for each of the crosses. 3. The White and Brown phenotypes were attributed to the Panda (S) and Roux (Br) loci respectively in agreement with contemporary quail stocks. 4. The White Breasted plumage type present in our stock was caused by a novel mutation with dominant gene action at an autosomal locus that was not allelic to either Panda or the White feather locus. 5. A recessive epistatic action of the Panda locus (S) on White Breasted (Wb) resulted in a White colour phenotype. 6. A novel phenotype, White Breasted-Brown was co-expressed with the Br and Wb loci. 7. It was concluded that breeding for customized feather colour phenotypes in Japanese quail using colour mutations was feasible and would be advantageous in order to overcome the limitations of legislation to protect wildlife in India.