Abstract
To assess the value of DNA fingerprints for the prediction of heterosis in chickens, retrospective analyses of data from three crossbreeding experiments and DNA fingerprints (DFP) of parental strains were conducted using two minisatellite and one middle-repetitive DNA probes. DFP bands were assessed on pooled DNA samples of 10-15 individuals per parental genetic group. The number of DFP bands evaluated in the experiments ranged from 81 to 139. The probes varied in their predictive value, but predictability of heterosis generally increased with multiple probes. Highly significant correlations (0.68-0.87) between band sharing ratios (SH) and heterosis were found in 25 crosses of White Leghorns in the first egg production cycle for age at sexual maturity, egg production, and mature body weight: traits with heterosis of 10% or more of the means. Regressions of SH explained 78.4% of the variation in heterosis in age at sexual maturity, 60.2% in egg production and 46.4% in mature body weight. For ``broiler'' traits with heterosis of <1%, none of the correlations, based on 13 crosses, were significant. It was concluded that multilocus probe DFP of pooled DNA samples show promise as predictors of heterosis.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (863.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Benkel B. F., Gavora J. S. A novel molecular fingerprint probe based on the endogenous avian retroviral element (EAV) of chickens. Anim Genet. 1993 Dec;24(6):409–413. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2052.1993.tb00353.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Benkel B. F., Mucha J., Gavora J. S. A new diagnostic method for the detection of endogenous Rous-associated virus-type provirus in chickens. Poult Sci. 1992 Sep;71(9):1520–1526. doi: 10.3382/ps.0711520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dolf G., Schläpfer J., Hagger C., Stranzinger G., Gaillard C. Quantitative traits in chicken associated with DNA fingerprint bands. EXS. 1993;67:371–377. doi: 10.1007/978-3-0348-8583-6_35. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fairfull R. W., Gowe R. S., Emsley J. A. Diallel cross of six long-term selected leghorn strains with emphasis on heterosis and reciprocal effects. Br Poult Sci. 1983 Apr;24(2):133–158. doi: 10.1080/00071668308416724. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fischer H. D., Dodgson J. B., Hughes S., Engel J. D. An unusual 5' splice sequence is efficiently utilized in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 May;81(9):2733–2737. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.9.2733. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Georges M., Lequarré A. S., Castelli M., Hanset R., Vassart G. DNA fingerprinting in domestic animals using four different minisatellite probes. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1988;47(3):127–131. doi: 10.1159/000132529. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jeffreys A. J., Wilson V., Thein S. L. Hypervariable 'minisatellite' regions in human DNA. Nature. 1985 Mar 7;314(6006):67–73. doi: 10.1038/314067a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kuhnlein U., Zadworny D., Dawe Y., Fairfull R. W., Gavora J. S. Assessment of inbreeding by DNA fingerprinting: development of a calibration curve using defined strains of chickens. Genetics. 1990 May;125(1):161–165. doi: 10.1093/genetics/125.1.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nakamura Y., Leppert M., O'Connell P., Wolff R., Holm T., Culver M., Martin C., Fujimoto E., Hoff M., Kumlin E. Variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) markers for human gene mapping. Science. 1987 Mar 27;235(4796):1616–1622. doi: 10.1126/science.3029872. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nei M. Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics. 1978 Jul;89(3):583–590. doi: 10.1093/genetics/89.3.583. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vassart G., Georges M., Monsieur R., Brocas H., Lequarre A. S., Christophe D. A sequence in M13 phage detects hypervariable minisatellites in human and animal DNA. Science. 1987 Feb 6;235(4789):683–684. doi: 10.1126/science.2880398. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]