Correlation Analysis between MyoG Gene Polymorphism and Carcass Characteristics of Egg quails

Abstract

Quail is extensively reared in China for characteristic of quick growth, small fodder consumption, early sexual maturity, high egg output and short production period. In this study, the SNP markers in 5’ regulation regions of cytogenin gene (MyoG) among China yellow quail, Beijing white quail and Korean quail were detected by PCR-SSCP method. Moreover, correlations of MyoG 5’ regulation regions with carcass characteristics of quail were analyzed. Results demonstrated thatin egg quail group, six genotypes were detected in Locus A in the control region of MyoG 5’, including AA, BB, CC, AB, AC and BC. The highest frequencies of CC in China yellow quail, Beijing white quail and Korean quail were 0.323, 0.366 and 0.444, respectively. A total of 9 genotypes were detected in locus B in egg quail group, which were AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, AB, AC, AD and AE. AA showed the highest frequency in China yellow quail, Beijing white quail and Korean quail, which were 0.493, 0.385 and 0.406, respectively. There was significant correlation between locus A and leg muscle rate of egg quail (plessthan0.05). Locus B presented significant correlations with carcass net weight, leg muscle weight, dressing percentage, whole net carcass rate and heart rate (plessthan0.05). Loci A and B in the control region of MyoG 5’ can be used as the molecular marker of carcass characteristics of egg quails during marker assisted selection.