Genetic Mapping of a Body Weight Trait in Chicken

Abstract

The indigenous chicken line, Satsumadori (SD), is characterized by slow growth and widely varied body weight. We carried out linkage analysis on chicken growth traits using a resource population between a SD male and a White Leghorn female, comprising 232 F2. We chose 72 microsatellite loci among 244 loci publicly available of 19 autosomal linkage groups, in terms of their utilities and locations. A quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting body weight at 13 weeks was mapped at 122.8cM on chromosome 1 (LOD score=5.16). The closest loci were ADL19 and ADL192. The difference in body weight of F2 were associated with allele types of ADL19 and ADL192 (P<0.01). In 52 SD males, we found three alleles of ADL19, each of which was assumed to be associated with the body weight at 13 weeks (P=0.062). Therefore, ADL19 will be applicable to marker-assisted selection for body weight in SD-crossed commercial populations.