Investigation of growth hormone gene polymorphism and its association with growth traits in Japanese Quail

Quails have suitable properties such as rapid growth and high quality of meat. In this study, polymorphism of exon two of the gene encoding Growth Hormone (GH) and its association with growth traits in the Japanese quail were investigated. For this purpose, blood samples were taken from 150 Japanese quails and genomic DNA was extracted using Pronase method. Then, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was executed to amplify a 162 bp fragment of GH gene. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method was used to determine the patterns of genetic samples. The results of SSCP showed four different genotype patterns in the exon two region of GH gene. The frequencies of genotype patterns were 11.64, 15.75, 37.67 and 34.94%. Association of body weight with genotype patterns was analyzed using the SAS software. Our results indicated that there is no significant difference between the genotype patterns and body weight in any period of rearing. However, for association of gender effect on body weight, there was a significant difference in the age of 60 days (maturity) (P≤0.05). Based on the multitude of genotypic patterns, the region in question in Japanese quail has a high diversity.