Genet. Sel. Evol. 38 (2006) 85-97
DOI: 10.1051/gse:2005028

Mapping quantitative trait loci affecting fatness and breast muscle weight in meat-type chicken lines divergently selected on abdominal fatness

Sandrine Lagarrigue^a, Frédérique Pitel^b, Wilfrid Carré^c, Behnam Abasht^a, Pascale Le Roy^{a, d}, André Neau^e, Yves Amigues^f, Michel Sourdioux^a, Jean Simon^g, Larry Cogburn^c, Sammy Aggrey^h, Bernard Leclercq^g, Alain Vignal^b and Madeleine Douaire<sup>a

a</sup>  UMR Inra-Agrocampus génétique animale, 35042 Rennes, France
^b  Laboratoire de génétique cellulaire, Inra, 31326 Auzeville, France
^c  Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19717, USA
^d  SGQA, Inra, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France
^e  Department of Animal Genetics, Inra, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France
^f  Labogena, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas, France
^g  Station de recherches avicoles, Inra, 37380 Nouzilly, France
^h  University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

(Received 28 February 2005; accepted 18 August 2005; published online 21 December 2005)

Abstract - Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for abdominal fatness and breast muscle weight were investigated in a three-generation design performed by inter-crossing two experimental meat-type chicken lines that were divergently selected on abdominal fatness. A total of 585 F₂ male offspring from 5 F₁ sires and 38 F₁ dams were recorded at 8 weeks of age for live body, abdominal fat and breast muscle weights. One hundred-twenty nine microsatellite markers, evenly located throughout the genome and heterozygous for most of the F₁ sires, were used for genotyping the F₂ birds. In each sire family, those offspring exhibiting the most extreme values for each trait were genotyped. Multipoint QTL analyses using maximum likelihood methods were performed for abdominal fat and breast muscle weights, which were corrected for the effects of 8-week body weight, dam and hatching group. Isolated markers were assessed by analyses of variance. Two significant QTL were identified on chromosomes 1 and 5 with effects of about one within-family residual standard deviation. One breast muscle QTL was identified on GGA1 with an effect of 2.0 within-family residual standard deviation.

Key words: quantitative trait locus / abdominal fat / breast muscle / chicken

Correspondence and reprints: Madeleine.Douaire@rennes.inra.fr

© INRA, EDP Sciences 2005