This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the line of Japanese quails on several production traits of 800 hatched eggs in three populations differ in plumage color, Brown-line (n = 300), Black-line (n = 220), and White-line (n = 280). Variables growth traits were examined on weekly intervals, namely live body weight (LBW), egg weight (EW), egg numbers (EN), hen day production (HD%), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the entire investigated period. Results indicated the presence of a significant effect of the studied lines on the majority of investigated traits. Concerning LBW, Black-line showed higher values than Brown and White lines respectively, in the last three weeks of measurements. Concerning EW, no obvious superiority was recorded for each investigated line except for the 10th week, in which significant (P<0.01) higher values of Brown-line were observed over the other two lines. Meanwhile, Brown-line had exhibited significantly (P<0.01) higher EN and HD% values over Black and White lines, respectively. On the contrary, FCR in White-line scored higher values starting from the 10th week to the end of the experiment (12th week) than Black and Brown lines, respectively. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the obvious superiority of the Brown-line over Black and White lines in the egg production traits measured. Since Black-line showed relatively higher values in LBW, we may suggest it for meat production. Meanwhile, Brown-line is the best-suited population for egg production. The observed data can be used by breeders in the large-scale egg production purposes of Japanese quails.
BackgroundThe current study was conducted to identify the genetic polymorphism of ghrelin (GHRL) gene of sheep and goats, as well as to determine whether these polymorphisms were associated with the evolutionary genetic differences in the involved species. This study was performed on 233 sheep and 91 goats. Two genetic loci of 113 bp and 262 bp partially spanning over exon 2/intron 2 and intron 4/exon 5 of GHRL gene respectively were amplified and genotyped using polymerase chain reaction–single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods.ResultsThe SSCP banding pattern of 262-bp locus indicated the presence of four diplotypes (BC, BB, AC, and AB) in Awassi sheep, three diplotypes (BC, BB, and AB) in Karadi sheep, and only two diplotypes (BC and BB) in all goats’ samples. The current study detected several novel SNPs in the ovine–caprine populations as well as two SNPs that are observed only in sheep, including intron4:119 C>A and intron4:123 T>G. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the observed diplotypes resided within ovine sequences and were closely related to caprine counterparts. Computational analyses indicated the presence of various intronic RNA motifs. However, all these motifs were gathered in Awassi breed.ConclusionIt is stated that the intron 4 is highly diverse amongst goats and sheep as well as within sheep with a particular emphasis on Awassi. This genetic peculiarity may in turn suggest a high polymorphic pattern of this breed in comparison with other related counterparts.
The present study was conducted to identify the associations between the genetic polymorphisms of GnRH1 gene and growth traits in Awassi and Karakul breeds of sheep. Two GnRH1 amplicons of 313 bp and 323 bp were designed to cover exon 1, exon 2, and their flanking regions, respectively. Genotyping experiments were performed using PCR-SSCP and DNA sequencing. No polymorphism was observed in 323 bp amplicons, while two SSCP-banding patterns were detected in 313 bp amplicons with the presence of two genotypes (AA and AB). Two novel mutations in AB genotype were observed, namely 5 0 -UTR:50 A [ C and intron1:264 G [ C. In addition to these detected genotypes, results indicated that several growth traits were significantly associated with breed, sex, and dam-age in the first 6 months of birth. However, a tendency of individuals with AA genotype to exert better performance in the majority of measured growth traits than individuals with AB genotype was also observed. With the advent of the month-9 and onward, this tendency developed to be significant (P \ 0.05), in which the association of all growth traits with the GnRH1 genotypes was dominated over other factors. Furthermore, more significant associations were observed in the month-12, in which individuals with AA genotype had higher growth traits measurements than individuals with AB genotype (P \ 0.01). In conclusion, we detected a tight linkage between the polymorphisms of the GnRH1 gene and growth traits at sexual maturity. Therefore, this study strongly suggests the GnRH1 gene as a new candidate in marker-assisted selection for growth traits in sheep.
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