Correlation between Egg Production Traits and Broodiness Traits in Shiqiza,Langya and Luqin B2 Chickens

[ Objective] To investigate the relationship between the egg production traits and broodiness of Shiqiza, Langya and Luqin B2 chickens. E Method] Three chicken breeds, Shiqiza chickens （a breed preserved by Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences）, Langya chickens （a local breed in Shandong Province） and Luqin B2 chickens （a cultivated breed） were selected. Then their broodiness traits were observed and the egg productions were analyzed. Finally, the relationships between the egg production traits and broodiness were analyzed by SAS software. [ Result] The Shiqiza, Langya and Luqin B2. chickens were broody and their broodiness rate was 15.80%, 2.24% and 6.95%, respectively. Compared with the non-broody chickens, the egg productions of Shiqiza, Langya and Luqin B2 chickens were respectively decreased by 17.16%, 1.53% and 10.8% at the age of 43 weeks. The three breeds had significant differences in repeats of broody cycles （ P 〈 0.05）, and extremely significant differences in the broodiness duration, the the first day of broodiness, the age at the first egg, total amount of abnormal eggs and amount of double- yolked eggs （P 〈 0.01 ）. [Conclusion] The broodiness is a main factor affecting egg production traits. The degree of effects of broodiness on egg production traits is decreased successively in Shiqiza chicken, Luqin B2 chicken and Langya chicken.

Association of VIPR-1 gene polymorphisms and haplotypes with egg production in laying quails

The laying quail is a worldwide breed which exhibits high economic value. In our current study, the vas- oactive intestinal peptide receptor-1 （VIPR-1） was selected as the candidate gene for identifying traits of egg produc- tion. A single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） detection was performed in 443 individual quails, including 196 quails from the H line, 202 quails from the L line, and 45 wild quails. The SNPs were genotyped using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism （PCR-RFLP）. Two mutations （G373T, A313G） were detected in all the tested quail populations. The associated analysis showed that the SNP genotypes of the VIPR-1 gene were sig- nificantly linked with the egg weight of G373T and A313G in 398 quails. The quails with the genotype GG always exhibited the largest egg weight for the two mutations in the H and L lines. Linkage disequilibrium （LD） analysis in- dicated that G373T and A313G loci showed the weakest LD. Seven main diplotypes from the four main reconstructed haplotypes were observed, indicating a significant association of diplotypes with egg weight. Quails with the hlh2 （GGGT） diplotype always exhibited the smallest egg weight and largest egg number at 20 weeks of age. The overall results suggest that the alterations in quails may be linked with potential major loci or genes affecting reproductive traits.