Effect of hemoglobin polymorphism on performance traits in indigenous chicken genotypes in Nigeria

The effect of hemoglobin polymorphism on performance traits in Nigerian indigenous chicken types was investigated in this research. The chickens were obtained through the pure mating of the sire and dam of each population of frizzle feathered, normal feathered, and naked neck chickens to produce F₁ offsprings. One hundred fifty-five chicks (37 frizzle, 79 normal, and 39 naked neck) were measured for body weight (g), breast girth (cm), and tibia length (cm). At 20 weeks, 5 mL of blood was collected from the wing vein of each chicken into heparinized tubes and labeled according to its tag number for electrophoresis. The electrophoresis procedures outlined by RIKEN BRC (2006) was used. 0.6 μl of undiluted blood constituent was taken. The prepared buffer (Tris 10.91 g, EDTA 0.60 g, boric acid 3.10 g) at pH 8.5 was used for the gel preparation. The cellulose acetate membrane was used as a supporting medium. The electrophoresis was carried out at a voltage of 150 V for about 50 min at a temperature of 4 °C. The migration of the genotype was from cathode (-) to anode (+). Each bird was scored as either fast (AA), midway (AB), or slow (BB) according to the mobility on the cellulose acetate paper for hemoglobin. Data were analyzed using statistical analysis system (SAS 2002), and significant means were separated using Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference. Hardy Weinberg's equation was used to calculate genotypic and allelic frequencies and tested using chi-square (χ²). Hemoglobin had three polymorphic forms viz AA, AB, and BB. The genotypic frequencies of hemoglobin (Hb^AA, Hb^AB, and Hb^BB) were 49, 56, and 50, respectively, while the allelic frequencies were 0.50 for both Hb^A and Hb^B. The effect of the polymorphic forms on body weight (g), breast girth (cm), and tibia length (cm) showed that the AA had significantly higher (P < 0.05) body weight (g) than AB and BB (1296.43 g, 1029.59 g, and 884.46 g, respectively). The AA was also higher (P < 0.05) than the AB and BB for breast girth (cm) and tibia length (cm). Heterozygotes adapted and survived better than the homozygotes. The effect of the polymorphic forms of hemoglobin on body weight (g), breast girth (cm), and tibia length (cm) showed that it could be used for body weight selection.

Genetic diversity of myanmar and indonesia native chickens together with two jungle fowl species by using 102 indels polymorphisms

The efficiency of insertion and/or deletion (indels) polymorphisms as genetic markers was evaluated by genotyping 102 indels loci in native chicken populations from Myanmar and Indonesia as well as Red jungle fowls and Green jungle fowls from Java Island. Out of the 102 indel markers, 97 were polymorphic. The average observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.206 to 0.268 and 0.229 to 0.284 in native chicken populations and 0.003 to 0.101 and 0.012 to 0.078 in jungle fowl populations. The coefficients of genetic differentiation (Gst) of the native chicken populations from Myanmar and Indonesia were 0.041 and 0.098 respectively. The genetic variability is higher among native chicken populations than jungle fowl populations. The high Gst value was found between native chicken populations and jungle fowl populations. Neighbor-joining tree using genetic distance revealed that the native chickens from two countries were genetically close to each other and remote from Red and Green jungle fowls of Java Island.