Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Genetic Architecture of Abdominal Fat Deposition Revealed by a Genome-Wide Association Study in the Laying Chicken

Jun GUO
ORCID logo ,
Dan SHAO
ORCID logo ,
Qiang WANG
,
Yongfeng LI
,
Taocun DOU
,
Xingguo WANG
,
Yuping HU
,
Liang QU
* ,
Haibing TONG
*
Version 1 : Received: 22 November 2023 / Approved: 23 November 2023 / Online: 23 November 2023 (10:55:06 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Guo, J.; Qu, L.; Shao, D.; Wang, Q.; Li, Y.; Dou, T.; Wang, X.; Hu, Y.; Tong, H. Genetic Architecture of Abdominal Fat Deposition Revealed by a Genome-Wide Association Study in the Laying Chicken. Genes 2024, 15, 10. Guo, J.; Qu, L.; Shao, D.; Wang, Q.; Li, Y.; Dou, T.; Wang, X.; Hu, Y.; Tong, H. Genetic Architecture of Abdominal Fat Deposition Revealed by a Genome-Wide Association Study in the Laying Chicken. Genes 2024, 15, 10.

Abstract

Fat has a high energy density and excessive fatness has been recognized as a problem for egg production and the welfare of chickens. The identification of a genetic polymorphism controlling fat deposition would be helpful to select against excessive fatness in the laying hen. This study aimed to estimate genomic heritability and identify the genetic architecture of abdominal fat deposition in a population of chickens from a Dongxiang blue-shelled local breed crossbred with the White Leghorn. A genome-wide association study wase conducted on abdominal fat percentage, egg production and body weights using a sample of 1534 hens genotyped with a 600K Chicken Genotyping Array. The analysis yielded a heritability estimate of 0.19 ± 0.04 for abdominal fat percentage, 0.56 ± 0.04 for body weight at 72 weeks, 0.11 ± 0.03 for egg production and 0.24 ± 0.04 for body weight gain. The genetic correlation of abdominal fat percentage with egg production between 60 and 72 weeks of age was 0.35 ± 0.18. This implies a potential trade-off between these two traits related to allocation of resource. Strong positive genetic correlations were found between fat deposition and weight traits. A promising locus close to COL12A1 on chromosome 3, associated with abdominal fat percent, was found in the present study. The other region located around HTR2A on chromosome 1, where allele substitution was predicted to be associated with body weight gain, accounted for 2.9% of phenotypic variance. Another region located on chromosome 1, but close to SOX5, was associated with egg production. These results may be used to influence the balanced genetic selection for laying hens.

Keywords

Abdominal fat deposition; Genomic heritability; Genetic correlation; Body weight gain; Egg production

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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