The influence of selection for increased body weight and sex on pectoralis major muscle weight during the embryonic and posthatch periods

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

Skeletal muscle development and growth results from a complex series of highly organized processes. To address how myogenesis was influenced by selection for increased BW and by sex, both sexes from a turkey line (F) selected only for increased 16-wk BW and its genetic control line (RBC2) were used. Pectoralis major muscle was isolated and weighed from 15 individuals of each sex of the F and RBC2 lines at 14, 16, 18, 20, and 24 d of embryonic development and at 1, 8, 12, and 16 wk of age posthatch. The F line had significantly heavier p. major muscle weights than the RBC2 line beginning at 16 d of embryonic development, and the magnitude of the line differences generally increased with age through 16 wk posthatch The p. major muscle was consistently heavier in males than in females, but the differences between sexes were significant only at 16, 18, and 24 d of embryonic development and at 8 wk posthatch. There was no significant interaction between line and sex for weight of the p. major muscle at any age. The results indicated that selection for increased 16-wk BW in the F line altered growth of the p. major muscle by 16 d of embryonic development and changes were similar for both sexes.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. J. Wolanski, R. A. Renema, F. E. Robinson, V. L. Carney, and B. I. Fancher Relationship Between Chick Conformation and Quality Measures with Early Growth Traits in Males of Eight Selected Pure or Commercial Broiler Breeder Strains Poult. Sci., August 1, 2006; 85(8): 1490 - 1497. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]