• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1674-1678
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• 2017

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate genetic correlations between the behavioural profile and performance in laying hens as an indirect answer to the question whether the observed behavioural responses are associated with increased levels of stress in these birds. Methods: The assessment of birds' temperament was carried out using the novel objects test. The behavioural test was conducted in two successive generations comprising 9,483 Rhode Island White (RIW) birds (approx. 4,700 individuals per generation) and 4,326 Rhode Island Red (RIR) birds (approx. 2,100 individuals per generation). Based on the recorded responses, the birds were divided into two groups: a fearful profile (1,418 RIW hens and 580 RIR hens) and a brave/curious profile (8,065 RIW hens and 3,746 RIR hens). The birds were subjected to standard assessment of their performance traits, including SM, age at sexual maturity; ST, shell thickness; SG, egg specific gravity; EW, mean egg weight; IP, initial egg production; and HC, number of hatched chicks. The pedigree was three generations deep (including two behaviourrecorded generations). Estimation of the (co)variance components was performed with the Gibbs sampling method, which accounts for the discrete character of the behavioural profile denotation. Results: The analyses revealed negative correlations between the performance traits of the laying hens and the behavioural profile defined as fearful. In the group of fearful RIW birds, delayed sexual maturation (0.22) as well as a decrease in the initial egg production (-0.30), egg weight (-0.54), egg specific gravity (-0.331), shell thickness (-0.11), and the number of hatched chicks (-0.24) could be expected. These correlations were less pronounced in the RIR breed, in which the fearful birds exhibited a decline in hatchability (-0.37), egg specific gravity (-0.11), and the number of hatched chicks (-0.18). There were no correlations in the case of the other traits or they were positive but exhibited a substantial standard error, as for the egg weight. Conclusion: To sum up the results obtained, it can be noted that behavioural responses indicating fearfulness, i.e. escape, avoidance, and approach-avoidance may reflect negative emotions experienced by birds. The negative correlations with performance in the group of fearful hens may indirectly indicate a high level of stress in these birds, especially in the white-feathered birds, where stronger performance-fearfulness correlations were found. Fearful birds should be eliminated from breeding by inclusion of the behavioural profile in the selection criterion in the case of laying hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1546-1550
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to assess the genetic variation and establish the relationship amongst breeds and strains using 15 chicken specific microsatellite markers. A total of 285 unrelated DNA samples from four Korean native chicken strains (Black strain of Korean native chicken; KL, Red Brown strain of Korean native chicken; KR, Ogol strain of Korean native chicken; KS and Yellow Brown strain of Korean native chicken; KY) and three introduced chicken breeds (F strain of White Leghorn; LF, K strain of White Leghorn; LK, Rhode Island Red; RC and Cornish; CN) were genotyped to estimate within and between breed genetic diversity indices. All the loci analyzed in 15 microsatellite markers showed a polymorphic pattern and the number of alleles ranged from 5 to 14. The polymorphism information content (PIC) of UMA1019 was the highest (0.872) and that of ADL0234 was the lowest (0.562). The expected total heterozygosity (He) within breed and mean number of observed alleles ranged from 0.540 (LF) to 0.689 (KY), and from 3.47 (LK) to 6.07 (KR), respectively. The genetic variation of KR and KY were the highest and the lowest within Korean native strains, respectively. The genetic distance results showed that Korean native chicken strains were separated with the three introduced chicken breeds clustered into another group. The lowest distance (0.149) was observed between the KR and KL breeds and the highest distance (0.855) between the KR and LK breeds. The microsatellite polymorphism data were shown to be useful for assessing the genetic relationship between Korean native strains and other foreign breeds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1359-1365
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• 2009

We performed a genome-wide linkage and quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to confirm the existence of QTL affecting Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) induced tumor regression, and to estimate their effects on phenotypic variance in an F2 resource population. The F2 population comprised 158 chickens obtained by crossing tumor regressive White Leghorn (WL) and tumor progressive Rhode Island Red (RIR) lines was measured for tumor formation after RSV inoculation. Forty-three tumor progressive and 28 tumor regressive chickens were then used for genome-wide linkage and QTL analysis using a total of 186 microsatellite markers. Microsatellite markers were mapped on 20 autosomal chromosomes. A significant QTL was detected with marker LEI0258 located within the MHC B region on chromosome 16. This QTL had the highest F ratio (9.8) and accounted for 20.1% of the phenotypic variation. Suggestive QTL were also detected on chromosomes 4, 7 and 10. The QTL on chromosome 4 were detected at the 1% chromosome-wide level explaining 17.5% of the phenotypic variation, and the QTLs on chromosome 7 and 10 were detected at the 5% chromosome-wide level and explained 11.1% and 10.5% of the phenotypic variation, respectively. These results indicate that the QTLs in the non-MHC regions play a significant role in RSV-induced tumor regression. The present study constitutes one of the first preliminary reports in domestic chickens for QTLs affecting RSV-induced tumor regression outside the MHC region.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.317-322
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• 2009

The chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is known to be associated with disease resistance and susceptibility to several pathogens. The microsatellite marker LEI0258 is physically located between the BG and BF of MHC region and variations near this marker have been well documented. In this report, the LEI0258 marker was used to find specific alleles for the Korean native chicken. The MHC haplotype was analyzed by PCR screening and sequencing of LEI0258 region in four different breeds including black Korean native chicken, brown Korean native chicken, Cornish and Rhode island red. The serologically same MHC haplotypes showed the differences in repeat numbers, a few indels or single nucleotide polymorphisms by sequencing analysis. Even though we could not identify specific alleles for Korean native chickens, the genotypes analyzed in these breeds can give valuable information for the relationships with disease resistance and establishment of breeding strategies for the Korean native chicken.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.1188-1191
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• 1999

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) of White Leghorn chicken embryos as a donor were transferred to Rhode Island Red chicken embryos as a recipient. At 48-50 h (stage 13-15) of incubation of fertilized eggs, donor PGCs, which were taken out from blood vessels of donor embryos, were injected into blood vessels of recipient embryos. Sex of the treated embryos was determined after the transfer of PGCs using remaining blood samples. In the present experiments, survival rate of the treated embryos was 33.3% for homo-sexual and 35.4% for hetero-sexual transfers of PGCs, respectively, when determined at 17 days of incubation. In this study, most of the treated embryos could not survive more than 18 days of incubation, though the reason for that was not clarified in the present work. The gonalds removed from embryos that died after 18 days of incubation and the organs from newly hatched chicks were examined for morphological and histological features. The gonads removed from the embryos with homo-sexual transfer of PGCs showed normal development in appearance. On the contrary, some (35.3%) of the embryos with hetero-sexual transfer of PGCs possessed abnormal gonads similar to ovotestis by histological observation. In cases where the gonads developed to be normal organs (64.7%) the sex of embryos was the same as recipient ones. The present results suggest that hetero-sexual transfer of the PGCs may bring about the possibility of development of the embryos bearing sexually different gametes, spermatogonia or oogonia.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.314-356
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• 1982

In order to improve the efficiency of the main economic traits in layers the present selection index is based on body weight, age at first egg, egg production and egg weight. But as the edible parts of the egg, the yolk and the albumin, are very important economic traits, this study was conducted to estimate the selection indices combining the latter traits with the former traits, and to examine the accuracy of the indices. The experiment were 351 Single Comb White Leghorns(S. C. W. Leghorn) and 326 Rhode Island Reds (R. I. Red), improved by the closed flock breeding system at the Daejeon Branch Station of the National Livestock Breeding Station. The egg compositions were checked a total of 6097 eggs. The data for each traits were collected and analysed until 500 days of age from March 1, 1979.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1610-1615
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• 2008

Natto is a Japanese traditional soybean product fermented by Bacillus natto. The effects of dried fermented soybean (natto) supplement on egg production and egg qualities of layer chickens was studied with regard to the effective use of various waste foods in Japan. Dried natto, prepared by heating at $60^{\circ}C$, was added to a basic diet at a level of up to 3%. Forty 166-wk-old layer chickens (Rhode Island Red) were randomly divided into 4 groups and five layer chickens were used in each group with two replicates. Layer chickens in group 1 were fed a basic diet as the control. The remaining 3 groups were fed the basic diet supplemented with dried natto at levels of 1, 2, and 3% (w/w), respectively. The result did not show improvements in egg production or feed conversion ratio of layer chickens even when 3% dried natto was added to the control diet. The egg qualities including egg weight, eggshell strength and thickness, yolk color, yolk weight, albumen height, and Haugh unit were also not improved. However, the feeding of dried natto changed the cholesterol content in the egg yolk. The supplementation of dried natto showed the tendency to decrease the yolk cholesterol after 12-wk of feeding compared to the control diet though it did not change plasma cholesterol levels in the blood. On the other hand, yolk cholesterol decreased significantly after 12-wk of feeding 3% dried natto (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1365-1371
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• 2017

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the basic information on genetic structure and characteristics of Korean Native chickens (NC) and foreign breeds through the analysis of the pure chicken populations and commercial chicken lines of the Hanhyup Company which are popular in the NC market, using the 20 microsatellite markers. Methods: In this study, the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of 445 NC from five different breeds (NC, Leghorn [LH], Cornish [CS], Rhode Island Red [RIR], and Hanhyup [HH] commercial line) were investigated by performing genotyping using 20 microsatellite markers. Results: The highest genetic distance was observed between RIR and LH (18.9%), whereas the lowest genetic distance was observed between HH and NC (2.7%). In the principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) illustrated by the first component, LH was clearly separated from the other groups. The correspondence analysis showed close relationship among individuals belonging to the NC, CS, and HH lines. From the STRUCTURE program, the presence of 5 clusters was detected and it was found that the proportion of membership in the different clusters was almost comparable among the breeds with the exception of one breed (HH), although it was highest in LH (0.987) and lowest in CS (0.578). For the cluster 1 it was high in HH (0.582) and in CS (0.368), while for the cluster 4 it was relatively higher in HH (0.392) than other breeds. Conclusion: Our study showed useful genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship data that can be utilized for NC breeding and development by the commercial chicken industry to meet consumer demands.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 2021

A number of Korean Chicken breeds were registered in Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS, http://dad.fao.org/) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Evaluation of genetic diversity and relationship of local breeds is an important factor towards the identification of unique and valuable genetic resources. Therefore, this study aimed to analysis the genetic diversity and relationship of 22 Korean Chicken breeds using 12 microsatellite (MS) markers. The mean number of alleles for each variety was 5.52, ranging from a 3.75 (Leghorn F; NF) to a 7.0 (Ross). The most diverse breed was the Hanhyup3 (HCC), which had the highest expected heterozygosity (H_Exp) (0.754) and polymorphic information content (PIC) (0.711). The NF was the least diverse population, having the lowest H_Exp (0.467) and PIC (0.413). As a result of the principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) confirmed that Hy-line Brown (HL) and Lohmann Brown (LO) are very close to each other and that Leghorn and Rhode Island Red (RIR) are clearly distinguished from other groups. Thus, the reliability and power of identification using 12 types of MS markers were improved, and the genetic diversity and probability of individual discrimination were confirmed through statistical analysis. This study is expected to be used as basic data for the identification of Korean chicken breeds, and our results indicated that these multiplex PCR marker sets will have considerable applications in population genetic structure analysis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2019

Objective: The first stage in both breeding and programs for the conservation of genetic resources are the identification of genetic diversity in the relevant population. The aim of the present study is to identify genetic diversity of six brown layer pure chicken lines (Rhode Island Red [RIRI, RIRII], Barred Rock [BARI, BARII], Columbian Rock [COL], and line 54 [L-54]) with microsatellite markers. Furthermore, the study aims to employ its findings to discuss the possibilities for the conservation and sustainable use of these lines that have been bred as closed populations for a long time. Methods: In the present study, a total number of 180 samples belonging to RIRI (n = 30), RIRII (n = 30), BARI (n = 30), BARII (n = 30), L-54 (n = 30), and COL (n = 30) lines were genotyped using 22 microsatellite loci. Microsatellite markers are extremely useful tools in the identification of genetic diversity since they are distributed throughout the eukaryotic genome in multitudes, demonstrate co-dominant inheritance and they feature a high rate of polymorphism and repeatability. Results: In this study, we found all loci to be polymorphic and identified the average number of alleles per locus to be in the range between 4.41 (BARI) and 5.45 (RIRI); the observed heterozygosity to be in the range between 0.31 (RIRII) and 0.50 (BARII); and $F_{IS}$ (inbreeding coefficient) values in the range between 0.16 (L-54) and 0.46 (RIRII). The $F_{IS}$ values obtained in this context points out to a deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium due to heterozygote deficiency in six different populations. The Neighbour-Joining tree, Factorial Correspondence Analysis and STRUCTURE clustering analyzes showed that six brown layer lines were separated according to their genetic origins. Conclusion: The results obtained from the study indicate a medium level of genetic diversity, high level inbreeding in chicken lines and high level genetic differentiation between chicken lines.