Genetic Determinism of Fearfulness, General Activity and Feeding Behavior in Chickens and Its Relationship with Digestive Efficiency.

The genetic relationships between behavior and digestive efficiency were studied in 860 chickens from a cross between two lines divergently selected on digestive efficiency. At 2 weeks of age each chick was video-recorded in the home pen to characterize general activity and feeding behavior. Tonic immobility and open-field tests were also carried out individually to evaluate emotional reactivity (i.

Genetic determinism of bone and mineral metabolism in meat-type chickens: A QTL mapping study.

Skeletal integrity in meat-type chickens is affected by many factors including rapid growth rate, nutrition and genetics. To investigate the genetic basis of bone and mineral metabolism, a QTL detection study was conducted in an intercross between two lines of meat-type chickens divergently selected for their high (D +) or low (D -) digestive efficiency. Tibia size (length, diameter, volume) and ash content were determined at 3 weeks of age as well as phosphorus (P) retention and plasma concentration.

Detection of QTL controlling feed efficiency and excretion in chickens fed a wheat-based diet.

Background: Improving feed efficiency is a major goal in poultry production in order to reduce production costs, increase the possibility of using alternative feedstuffs and decrease the volume of manure. However, in spite of their economic and environmental impact, very few quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been reported on these traits. Thus, we undertook the detection of QTL on 820 meat-type chickens from a F2 cross between D- and D+ lines that were divergently selected on low or high digestive efficiency at 3 weeks of age.

Impact of Selection for Digestive Efficiency on Microbiota Composition in the Chicken.

Objectives: Feed efficiency and its digestive component, digestive efficiency, are key factors in the environmental impact and economic output of poultry production. The interaction between the host and intestinal microbiota has a crucial role in the determination of the ability of the bird to digest its food and to the birds' feed efficiency. We therefore investigated the phenotypic and genetic relationships between birds' efficiency and the composition of the cecal microbiota in a F2 cross between broiler lines divergently selected for their high or low digestive efficiency.

Detection of QTL controlling digestive efficiency and anatomy of the digestive tract in chicken fed a wheat-based diet.

Background: Improving digestive efficiency is a major goal in poultry production, to reduce production costs, make possible the use of alternative feedstuffs and decrease the volume of manure produced. Since measuring digestive efficiency is difficult, identifying molecular markers associated with genes controlling this trait would be a valuable tool for selection. Detection of QTL (quantitative trait loci) was undertaken on 820 meat-type chickens in a F2 cross between D- and D+ lines divergently selected on low or high AMEn (apparent metabolizable energy value of diet corrected to 0 nitrogen balance) measured at three weeks in animals fed a low-quality diet.

Imputation of microsatellite alleles from dense SNP genotypes for parentage verification across multiple Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds.

To assist cattle producers transition from microsatellite (MS) to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping for parental verification we previously devised an effective and inexpensive method to impute MS alleles from SNP haplotypes. While the reported method was verified with only a limited data set (N = 479) from Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Holstein, and Jersey cattle, some of the MS-SNP haplotype associations were concordant across these phylogenetically diverse breeds. This implied that some haplotypes predate modern breed formation and remain in strong linkage disequilibrium.

Association study of the paraoxonase 1 gene with the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Recently, a region encompassing the promoter and intron 1 of the paraoxonase 1 gene (PON1) have been associated with the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a large pan-ethnic (Caucasian and African-American) dataset. We attempted to replicate this observation in a large French study of sporadic cases and controls. We confirmed that the proximal promoter and 5' sequence of the PON1 gene may harbor unknown functional variant(s) associated with the risk of developing AD.

Genetic diversity analysis using lowly polymorphic dominant markers: the example of AFLP in pigs.

DNA markers are commonly used for large-scale evaluation of genetic diversity in farm animals, as a component of the management of animal genetic resources. AFLP markers are useful for such studies as they can be generated relatively simply; however, challenges in analysis arise from their dominant scoring and the low level of polymorphism of some markers. This paper describes the results obtained with a set of AFLP markers in a study of 59 pig breeds.

Genetic diversity in European pigs utilizing amplified fragment length polymorphism markers.

The use of DNA markers to evaluate genetic diversity is an important component of the management of animal genetic resources. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has published a list of recommended microsatellite markers for such studies; however, other markers are potential alternatives. This paper describes results obtained with a set of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers as part of a genetic diversity study of European pig breeds that also utilized microsatellite markers.

Genetic diversity within and between European pig breeds using microsatellite markers.

An important prerequisite for a conservation programme is a comprehensive description of genetic diversity. The aim of this study was to use anonymous genetic markers to assess the between- and the within-population components of genetic diversity for European pig breeds at the scale of the whole continent using microsatellites. Fifty-eight European pig breeds and lines were analysed including local breeds, national varieties of international breeds and commercial lines.

Detection of genes influencing economic traits in three French dairy cattle breeds.

A project of QTL detection was carried out in the French Holstein, Normande, and Montbéliarde dairy cattle breeds. This granddaughter design included 1 548 artificial insemination bulls distributed in 14 sire families and evaluated after a progeny-test for 24 traits (production, milk composition, persistency, type, fertility, mastitis resistance, and milking ease). These bulls were also genotyped for 169 genetic markers, mostly microsatellites.

Detection of quantitative trait loci for growth and fatness in pigs.

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of growth and fatness data from a three-generation experimental cross between Meishan (MS) and Large White (LW) pig breeds is presented. Six boars and 23 F1 sows, the progeny of six LW boars and six MS sows, produced 530 F2 males and 573 F2 females. Nine growth traits, i.

Effects of clinical combinations of antileukemic drugs on DNA ligase from human thymocytes and normal, stimulated, or leukemic lymphocytes.

Human DNA ligase was purified from different kinds of immunocompetent cells: thymocytes, normal and stimulated lymphocytes, blasts from ALL (Burkitt and non-T, non-B) and ANLL (M1, M2, and M5). Based upon the protocol for the treatment of these leukemias, the purified enzymes were assayed in the presence of routinely used combinations of antileukemic drugs. At the range of concentration tested (between 0.

[Demonstration of new class I antigens in man].

The hypothesis of new class I antigens has been postulated in man, and several antigen systems have been proposed: HT (Gazit), TC (TCA, TCB) (Van Leeuwen). The present study describes a new class I antigenic marker system, expressed selectively on PHA-activated T lymphocytes and on lymphoblastoid B cell lines. These markers correlated at the cellular activation stage, have been called: human activation or HA markers.

Isolation of a human major histocompatibility complex class I gene encoding a nonubiquitous molecule expressed on activated lymphocytes.

The human major histocompatibility complex is a multigene family containing at least 20 class I genes. Included within this family are the loci encoding the highly polymorphic HLA-A, -B, and -C antigens present at the surface of most nucleated cells. The large number of genes detected with class I probes by Southern blot analysis and the existence of serological reagents defining nonubiquitous, non-HLA-A,B,C class I antigens suggest that products other than HLA-A,B,C antigens are encoded within the class I gene family.

New class I in man: serological and molecular characterization.

New class I antigens in linkage disequilibrium with HLA-A antigen are demonstrated in PHA T and EBV preferential target cells using human alloantisera. These new antigens are defined as class I antigens by immunoprecipitation of a 41-12 k dimer. The molecule is shown to be distinct from the HLA-A, -B, -C molecule and in particular from the A3 molecule as in sequential immunoprecipitations, the depletion of the HLA-A, -B, -C molecule or A3 molecule (44-12 k) has no effect on the new molecule (41-12 k).