Associations of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor (GnRHR) and Neuropeptide Y(NPY) Genes’Polymorphisms with Egg-Laying Traits in Wenchang Chicken

Single nucleotide polymorphisms （SNP） of chicken gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor （GnRHR） and neuropeptide Y （NPY） were selected to identify the genotypes of Wenchang （Chinese indigenous breed） chicken with restricton fragment length polymorphisms. The associations of the SNPs with the total egg production （NE）, average days of continual laying （ADCL）, and number of double-yolked eggs （DYE） traits were analyzed. The frequency of restriction enzyme A/a alleles in the population was for GnRHR 0.69 （Bpu1102 Ⅰ A） and 0.31 （Bpu1102 Ⅰ a） and for NPY 0.46 （Dra Ⅰ B） and 0.54 （Dra Ⅰ b）. Trait data from a total of 120 hens, which were purebred introduced from Hainan Province, China from one generation were recorded. Two significant effects of genes＇ marker were found： for GnRHR and number of eggs （dominant; t= 2.67, df= 116） and NPY and number of eggs （additive; t= 1.97, df= 116）. The current research supports the effects of GnRHR and NPY genes on egg-laying traits of chickens.

Comparison of Analyses of Genetic Structure among Chinese Indigenous Chicken Breeds using Distance-based and Model-based Methods

The Nei's improved genetic distance(DA)and gene flow(Nm)were measured using sixteen microsatellite markers.Dendograms based on DA genetic distance using the neighbor-joining(NJ)method and STRUCTURE program were constructed to analyze the genetic structure and relationship among 10 Chinese indigenous chicken breeds.The results showed that dendograms of DA genetic distance using the NJ method divided the 10 chicken breeds into two main clusters;one consisted of breeds of low weight body(CHA,TTB,XIA,GUS and BAI),the other contained heavier breeds(LAN,DAG,YOU,XIS and LUY).In the lighter breeds,TIB and CHA clustered together,as did XIA and GUS.In the heavier breeds,XIS and LUY was clustered together in one branch,but LAN,DAG and YOU clustered in independent branches.The results were consistent with Nm estimates among the 10 indigenous chicken breeds.The STRUCTURE program properly inferred the presence of genetic structure despite not pre-defining the origin of individuals.The genetic cluster inferred by STRUCTURE was basically the same as that from the DA distance clustering method.An advantage of the STRUCTURE program was its ability to identify the migrants and admixed individuals in the 10 chicken populations;this could not be achieved by use of the DA distance clustering method.