Abstract
BackgroundPekin duck products have become popular in Asia over recent decades and account for an increasing market share. However, the genetic mechanisms affecting carcass growth in Pekin ducks remain unknown. This study aimed to identify quantitative trait loci affecting body size and carcass yields in Pekin ducks.ResultsWe measured 18 carcass traits in 639 Pekin ducks and performed genotyping using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). Loci-based association analysis detected 37 significant loci for the 17 traits. Thirty-seven identified candidate genes were involved in many biological processes. One single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (Chr1_140105435 A > T) located in the intron of the ATPase phospholipid transporting 11A gene (ATP11A) attained genome-wide significance associated with five weight traits. Eight SNPs were significantly associated with three body size traits, including the candidate gene plexin domain containing 2 (PLXDC2) associated with breast width and tensin 3 (TNS3) associated with fossil bone length. Only two SNPs were significantly associated with foot weight and four SNPs were significantly associated with heart weight. In the gene-based analysis, three genes (LOC101791418, TUBGCP3 (encoding tubulin gamma complex-associated protein 3), and ATP11A) were associated with four traits (42-day body weight, eviscerated weight, half-eviscerated weight, and leg muscle weight percentage). However, no loci were significantly associated with leg muscle weight in this study.ConclusionsThe novel results of this study improve our understanding of the genetic mechanisms regulating body growth in ducks and thus provide a genetic basis for breeding programs aimed at maximizing the economic potential of Pekin ducks.
Highlights
Pekin duck products have become popular in Asia over recent decades and account for an increasing market share
Heritability and correlation coefficients The results of the current study indicated that body size and carcass traits demonstrated moderate to high heritability in Pekin ducks (0.30–0.91)
Our results demonstrated correlations between this site and 42-day body weight (BW42), Dressed weight (DW), Eviscerated weight (EW), Half-eviscerated weight (HEW), and Breast width (BrW), and chicken quantitative trait loci (QTL) annotation showed that the gene was associated with both body weight and leg muscle weight
Summary
Pekin duck products have become popular in Asia over recent decades and account for an increasing market share. This study aimed to identify quantitative trait loci affecting body size and carcass yields in Pekin ducks. Duck farming has been growing rapidly in China, and in addition to breast meat and eggs, secondary products, such as duck neck and wing are very popular These secondary products including the head, neck, feet, and wings are more expensive than breast. In addition to pigs and cattle, similar studies have been conducted in poultry, and numerous candidate genes associated with carcass traits have been found in chickens, including TBC1D1, LCORL (ligand-dependent nuclear receptor corepressor-like), LAP3 (leucine aminopeptidase 3), LDB2 (LIM-domain-binding 2), and TAPT1 (transmembrane anterior posterior transformation 1) [7,8,9,10]. Previous studies suggested that the fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) [11] and mutations in intron 2 of the growth hormone gene (GH) [12] influenced duck carcass and meat quality traits, while Zhang et al [13] showed that the perilin gene (PLIN) affected duck carcass and fat traits
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