The markers which are correlated with the growth curve parameters help in understanding the characteristics of individual growth during the rearing of livestock. This study aimed to identify a set of biomarkers through a GWAS for growth curve parameters in crossbred chickens using the Illumnia 60K chicken SNP Beadchip. Growth data were collected from a total of 301 birds from cross of a broiler line and native chickens. Using the Gompertz–Laird model, two growth curve parameters, the instantaneous growth rate per day (L) and the coefficient of relative growth or maturing index (k), were estimated. The L and k were used to estimate five derived parameters, namely asymptotic (mature) body weight, body weight at inflection point, age at the inflection point, average growth rate and maximum growth rate. These parameters were considered as phenotypic values in the GWAS based on generalized linear models. The results of the GWAS indicated 21 significant markers, which were located near or within 46 genes. A number of these genes, such as GH, RET, GRB14, FTSJ3 and CCK, are important for growth and meat quality in chickens, and some of them are growth related in other species such as sheep and cattle (GPI, XIRP2, GALNTL6, BMS1, THSD4, TRHDE, SHISA9, ACSL6 and DYNC1LI2). The other genes are associated with developmental biological pathways. These genes are particuarly related to body weight, average daily gain and growth QTL. The results of this study can shed light on the genetic mechanism of biological functions of growth factors in broiler chickens, which is useful for developing management practices and accelerating genetic progress in breeding programs.

中文翻译：

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利用全基因组关联研究鉴定F2鸡种群的新基因和与生长曲线参数相关的数量性状

与生长曲线参数相关的标记有助于了解牲畜饲养过程中个体生长的特征。这项研究旨在通过GWAS为使用Illumnia 60K鸡SNP Beadchip杂交鸡的生长曲线参数识别一套生物标记。生长数据是从总共301羽来自肉鸡生产线和本地鸡杂交的家禽中收集的。使用Gompertz-Laird模型，可以估算两个生长曲线参数，即每日瞬时增长率（L）和相对生长系数或成熟指数（k）。的大号和ķ用来估计五个导出参数，即渐近（成熟）体重，拐点体重，拐点年龄，平均增长率和最大增长率。这些参数被认为是基于广义线性模型的GWAS中的表型值。GWAS的结果表明有21个重要标记，位于46个基因附近或之内。其中许多基因，例如GH，RET，GRB14，FTSJ3和CCK，对鸡的生长和肉品质都很重要，其中一些与其他物种如绵羊和牛的生长相关（GPI，XIRP2，GALNTL6，BMS1，THSD4，TRHDE，SHISA9，ACSL6和DYNC1LI2）。其他基因与发育生物学途径有关。这些基因特别与体重，平均日增重和生长QTL有关。这项研究的结果可以阐明肉鸡中生长因子生物学功能的遗传机制，这对发展管理方法和加快育种程序的遗传进程很有用。