Genetic relationship among lines and smooth muscle and ovarian follicular development within lines of Japanese quail in two long-term selection studies

Department of Animal Sciences, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Ohio State University, Wooster 44691, USA.

Smooth muscle tumor and ovarian follicular development were studied in lines of Japanese quail selected for increased 4-wk BW (HW, P, and T) and their randombred controls (C and R1). The lines studied were from long-term selection studies at The Ohio State University (HW and R1) and The University of Georgia (P, T, and C). To study the genetic relationship among the lines in the two selection studies, the C, P, HW, and R1 lines were DNA-fingerprinted by digestion of the DNA with the HaeIII restriction enzyme and using Jeffreys' 33.6 probe. The BW of females at 4 wk of age and at the end of a 240-d egg production period were similar for the C and R1 lines. The BW of the selected lines was ranked P > T > HW for both measurements. Smooth muscle tumors were found in the oviducal ligaments adjacent to the magnum. A greater percentage of hens from the BW-selected lines had smooth muscle tumors of greater weight than the randombred control lines, which did not differ in tumor incidence or weight. The P and T lines had a greater incidence of multiple-lobed tumors than the HW line. Based on bandsharing (BS) of DNA fingerprints, the Georgia and Ohio lines did not appear to be closely related, suggesting that, perhaps, the smooth muscle tumors in the BW-selected lines in the two studies might have resulted from pleiotrophic effects of genes affecting growth or to genes closely linked to the growth genes. The BW-selected lines in both selection studies had more ovarian follicles in rapid development, which were of greater weight, than the randombred control lines. The HW line had a larger number of ovarian follicles in rapid development than the P and T lines. The percentage of hens with atretic follicles was greater in the BW-selected lines. The results of the present study suggest that the effect of BW selection on ovarian follicular development may occur early in selection (within the first 30 generations) and is not influenced by additional genetic changes in BW.