Abstract
The study aimed at characterizing the Japanese quail using biochemical markers. Blood protein polymorphism of one hundred and sixty-six (166) Japanese quails of both sexes comprising of 83 each of mottled brown and white quails were analysed using cellulose acetate paper electrophoresis. Six loci which includes hemoglobin (Hb), transferrin (Tf), albumin (Alb), carbonic anhydrase (CA), alkaline phosphatase (Alp) and esterase-1 (Es-1) were tested. All the loci tested were polymorphic with each locus having two co-dominant alleles controlling three genotypes. Allele B was predominant at Hb, Tf and Es-1 locus with frequencies 0.90, 0.55, and 0.77, respectively while Allele A was predominant at Alb and Alp locus with frequencies 0.83 and 0.58 respectively. The Allele A had generally lower frequencies than B at the CA loci having values of 0.43 - Brown, 0.38 - White and 0.40 - overall. The mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.48 with brown and white quails having Ho values of 0.47 and 0.49 respectively, and the expected heterozygosity was observed to be higher in white quails (0.39) than in the mottled brown (0.31). The genetic distance (0.0534) between white and brown quails in this study showed little genetic differentiation between the brown and the white quails. Dendogram generated from the genetic distance values indicated that the two strains had common origin.
Highlights
Livestock populations have evolved unique adaptation to their agricultural production systems and agro-ecological environments
A major factor contributing to the variations in the results of experiments on animals is their genetic backgrounds (Van Zupthen et al, 1993). This is a major reason for the study of the genetic variability of quail. Another reason why the Japanese quail is so interesting in respect to the protein polymorphism is its wide natural distribution in comparison with other birds of the order Galliformes (Cheng et al, 1992)
The electrophoresis of blood proteins and enzyme systems of Hemoglobin (Hb), Transferrin (Tf), Albumin (Alb), Carbonic anhydrase (CA), Alkaline phosphatase (Alp), Esterase-1 (Es-1) were performed on cellulose acetate membrane following the procedure described by RIKEN (2006) with slight modifications
Summary
Livestock populations have evolved unique adaptation to their agricultural production systems and agro-ecological environments. The order Galliformes includes many wild bird species and the entire row of domestic species and breeds, the majority of which is well known by their morpho-physiological and productive qualities This group includes the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) which has a very wide natural distribution. This is a major reason for the study of the genetic variability of quail Another reason why the Japanese quail is so interesting in respect to the protein polymorphism is its wide natural distribution in comparison with other birds of the order Galliformes (Cheng et al, 1992). The allelic variants of protein visualized after electrophoresis are the products of certain genes Studies of such polymorphic proteins may provide additional information on the genetic differences among separate individuals, populations, breeds or species and on the influence of natural or artificial selection on genetic
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