Association of the melanocortin-3(MC3R) receptor gene with growth and reproductive traits in Mazandaran indigenous chicken

Melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) plays an important role in the central control of energy homeostasis, and several functional polymorphisms of this gene have been detected. We have studied MC3R as a candidate gene responsible for variation in economically important traits in the chicken. To determine the association between MC3R polymorphism and phenotypic variation, a total of 190 individuals from breeding station of Mazandaran indigenous chicken was genotyped using a modi-fied PCR-RFLP method. The association of growth and reproductive traits was studied using a gen-eralized linear model. The association analysis suggested a positive effect of genotype AA with av-erage egg weight at ages 28 (EW28), 30 (EW30) and 32 (EW32) weeks compared with the GG genotype (P