Microsatellite-polymorphism and association with production traits in Japanese quails

Abstract

The genetic polymorphism in 40 unrelated Japanese quails belonging to two strains (Black and White) was investigated using five microsatellite loci (GUJ0008, GUJ0034, GUJ0041, GUJ0056 and GUJ0070), which was then associated with body weight at 5 weeks of age trait. The genomic DNA was isolated from the peripheral blood samples collected aseptically from the birds. The PCR products for different microsatellite loci were resolved on 3.5% Metaphor agarose against 100 bp plus DNA ladder (Fermentas, Canada) and manually scored for the band patterns. The Chi-square test indicated that the loci might be under the influence of forces like selection, migration, mutation, etc. as all locus-strain combination deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The number of alleles in the different microsatellite loci studied varied from 6 to10, indicating a high degree of polymorphism. The PIC value was the highest for locus GUJ0070 for white plumage (0.698) and locus GUJ0034 for black plumage (0.768). Specific alleles were found to be private to either of the strain for the loci studied except for GUJ0070 locus. The GUJ0034 locus had a significant effect on the body weight at 5 weeks of age (BWT5) (p<0.05). The genotypic value of BWT5 was found to be the highest in genotype “FD” and the lowest in genotype “BA”. The microsatellite may be used in a separate independent sample of Japanese quails for selecting the birds at 5 weeks of age for higher body weight, before attaining sexual maturity.