- Email: [email protected]
Heritability of Live and Abdominal Fat Weights in Coturnix Quail1
Heritability of Live and Abdominal Fat Weights in Coturnix Quail1 WALTER A. BECKER, DANIEL L. FAGERLIE, and LARRY W. MIROSH Department of Animal Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
99164-6310
(Received for publication August 6, 1984) ABSTRACT Twenty-seven single-pair matings of Coturnix quail produced 48 sons and 50 daughters. Parents and progeny were reared under similar conditions and killed at 58 days of age. Live and abdominal fat weights were obtained. Heritability estimates from parent-offspring regressions ranged from .05 to .72 (live weight), .49 to .80 (abdominal fat weight), and .45 to .88 (percent abdominal fat/live weight). The high heritabilities for live weight (except sire-daughter regression) and for abdominal fat in Coturnix quail indicate that a selection method could be used to reduce fat and increase live weight. (Key words: Coturnix quail, live weight, abdominal fat, heritability) 1985 Poultry Science 64:1397-1398
Sadjadi and Becker ( 1 9 8 0 ) o b t a i n e d heritability estimates of surgically removed leaf fat f r o m C o t u r n i x quail using full-sib analysis of .65 ± .18 for males and .33 ± .17 for females. T h e p u r p o s e of t h e e x p e r i m e n t r e p o r t e d in this p a p e r was t o estimate t h e heritabilities of live weights and abdominal fat weights in quail as a m o d e l t o evaluate selection against a b d o m inal fat. MATERIALS AND METHODS T h e p a r e n t generation of C o t u r n i x quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were h a t c h e d from eggs laid b y a r a n d o m b r e d p o p u l a t i o n m a i n t a i n e d at Washington S t a t e University. T h e s e quail chicks were b r o o d e d o n t h e floor u n d e r 14 h r light and fed ad libitum a diet consisting of 2 1 % crude p r o t e i n and 3 0 7 2 kcal metabolizable energy/kg. At 39 d a y s of age, 27 pairs of male and female quail were placed each in 10 X 16-cm cages. Lighting was increased t o 2 0 h r to stimulate egg p r o d u c t i o n . Eggs were collected from each mating, h a t c h e d , .and each chick pedigreed to p r o d u c e t h e p r o g e n y generation. T w e n t y - t w o families p r o d u c e d t w o sons and t w o daughters, two
1 Scientific Paper No. 6880. College of Agriculture and Home Economics Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Project 0343.
families p r o d u c e d t w o sons, and three families p r o d u c e d t w o daughters. T h e p r o g e n y were reared u n d e r t h e same conditions as t h e parental generation. After t h e progeny h a t c h e d . t h e parental birds were individually weighed, after 2 4 hr w i t h o u t feed b u t with water available, and killed b y cervical dislocation at 58 days of age. T h e quail were placed in Perflex-S bags and frozen at —20.6 C. After thawing, a b d o m i n a l fat (leaf and gizzard fat) was r e m o v e d a n d weighed. T h e progeny were killed at t h e same age using t h e same procedures. Means for males and females within and between generations were separated b y t h e S t u d e n t ' s t test (Steel and Torrie, 1 9 8 0 ) . Heritabilities were estimated from parentoffspring regression analyses (Becker, 1 9 8 4 ) . RESULTS AND DISCUSSION T h e m e a n s and standard deviations for b o d y weight, a b d o m i n a l fat weight, and percentage abdominal fat for t h e p a r e n t a l and p r o g e n y generations are summarized in Table 1. Sires and sons were significantly ( P < . 0 5 ) smaller t h a n d a m s and daughters. This result agrees with Sadjadi and Becker ( 1 9 8 0 ) and Macha and Becker ( 1 9 7 6 ) . Males did n o t have significantly m o r e a b d o m i n a l fat t h a n females in either generation; however, t h e percentage a b d o m i n a l fat was greater ( P < . 0 5 ) in males t h a n in females as s u p p o r t e d b y Sadjadi and Becker ( 1 9 8 0 ) , which is a reversal of t h e sex difference in
1397
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on May 10, 2015
INTRODUCTION
BECKER ET AL.
1398
TABLE 1.Means (± SD) for parental and progeny generations of Coturnix quail at 58 days of age
Generation
Live weight (g)
Abdominal fat weight (g)
Abdominal fat/live weight
Parent Sires (n=27) Dams (n=27)
120 1 ± 10 146 ± 1 1
4.13 ± 1.46 2.08 + 1.08
3.39 + 1.02 1.39 ± .64
Progeny Sons (n=48) Daughters (n==50)
118 ± 9 147 ± 11
3.31 ± 1.48 1.86 ± 1.16
2.75 ± 1.08 1.23 ± .65
1
Means for males and females in each generation were significantly different (P<.05).
Regression
Live weight
Sire-son Sire-daughter Dam-son Dam-daughter
.72 .05 .55 .70
— ± ± ± ±
.15 .46 .12 .15
broiler chickens (Becker et al., 1979). N o significant differences were found for t h e three traits b e t w e e n sires and sons o r d a m s a n d daughters. Heritability estimates from parent-offspring regressions for live weight and a b d o m i n a l fat are given in Table 2. Heritabilities for live weight were high e x c e p t for t h e sire-daughter estimate of . 0 5 . Heritability estimates for a b d o m i n a l f a t weight (.49 t o .80) and percentage abdominal fat (.45 t o .89) were high, which indicated t h a t a b d o m i n a l fat has a large genetic c o m p o n e n t in quail. Based o n these results there is an indication t h a t a selection m e t h o d could be used to reduce a b d o m i n a l fat and increase live weight.
parent-offspring
Abdominal fat weight
Abdominal fat/live weight
.80 .49 .68 .67
.88 .45 .89 .64
(g)
(%) ± .38 ± .33 ± .55 ± .43
+ .19 ± .26 ± .67 ± .41
REFERENCES Becker, W. A., 1984. Manual of Quantitative Genetics. 4th ed. Academic Enterprises, Pullman, WA. Becker, W. A., J. V. Spencer, L. W. Mirosh, and J. A. Verstrate, 1979. Prediction of fat and fat free live weight in broiler chickens using backskin fat, abdominal fat, and live body weight. Poultry Sci. 58:835-842. Macha, A. M., and W. A. Becker, 1976. Comparison of predicted with actual body weight selection gains of Coturnix coturnix japonica. Theoret. Appl. Genet. 47:251-255. Sadjadi, M., and W. A. Becker, 1980. Heritability and genetic correlations of body weight and surgically removed abdominal fat in Coturnix quail. Poultry Sci. 59:1977-1984. Steel, R.G.D., and J. H. Torrie, 1980. Principles and Procedures of Statistics. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, NY.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on May 10, 2015
TABLE 2. Heritabilities (± SE) of live weight and abdominal fat weight from regression for Coturnix quail at 58 days of age
99164-6310
(Received for publication August 6, 1984) ABSTRACT Twenty-seven single-pair matings of Coturnix quail produced 48 sons and 50 daughters. Parents and progeny were reared under similar conditions and killed at 58 days of age. Live and abdominal fat weights were obtained. Heritability estimates from parent-offspring regressions ranged from .05 to .72 (live weight), .49 to .80 (abdominal fat weight), and .45 to .88 (percent abdominal fat/live weight). The high heritabilities for live weight (except sire-daughter regression) and for abdominal fat in Coturnix quail indicate that a selection method could be used to reduce fat and increase live weight. (Key words: Coturnix quail, live weight, abdominal fat, heritability) 1985 Poultry Science 64:1397-1398
Sadjadi and Becker ( 1 9 8 0 ) o b t a i n e d heritability estimates of surgically removed leaf fat f r o m C o t u r n i x quail using full-sib analysis of .65 ± .18 for males and .33 ± .17 for females. T h e p u r p o s e of t h e e x p e r i m e n t r e p o r t e d in this p a p e r was t o estimate t h e heritabilities of live weights and abdominal fat weights in quail as a m o d e l t o evaluate selection against a b d o m inal fat. MATERIALS AND METHODS T h e p a r e n t generation of C o t u r n i x quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were h a t c h e d from eggs laid b y a r a n d o m b r e d p o p u l a t i o n m a i n t a i n e d at Washington S t a t e University. T h e s e quail chicks were b r o o d e d o n t h e floor u n d e r 14 h r light and fed ad libitum a diet consisting of 2 1 % crude p r o t e i n and 3 0 7 2 kcal metabolizable energy/kg. At 39 d a y s of age, 27 pairs of male and female quail were placed each in 10 X 16-cm cages. Lighting was increased t o 2 0 h r to stimulate egg p r o d u c t i o n . Eggs were collected from each mating, h a t c h e d , .and each chick pedigreed to p r o d u c e t h e p r o g e n y generation. T w e n t y - t w o families p r o d u c e d t w o sons and t w o daughters, two
1 Scientific Paper No. 6880. College of Agriculture and Home Economics Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Project 0343.
families p r o d u c e d t w o sons, and three families p r o d u c e d t w o daughters. T h e p r o g e n y were reared u n d e r t h e same conditions as t h e parental generation. After t h e progeny h a t c h e d . t h e parental birds were individually weighed, after 2 4 hr w i t h o u t feed b u t with water available, and killed b y cervical dislocation at 58 days of age. T h e quail were placed in Perflex-S bags and frozen at —20.6 C. After thawing, a b d o m i n a l fat (leaf and gizzard fat) was r e m o v e d a n d weighed. T h e progeny were killed at t h e same age using t h e same procedures. Means for males and females within and between generations were separated b y t h e S t u d e n t ' s t test (Steel and Torrie, 1 9 8 0 ) . Heritabilities were estimated from parentoffspring regression analyses (Becker, 1 9 8 4 ) . RESULTS AND DISCUSSION T h e m e a n s and standard deviations for b o d y weight, a b d o m i n a l fat weight, and percentage abdominal fat for t h e p a r e n t a l and p r o g e n y generations are summarized in Table 1. Sires and sons were significantly ( P < . 0 5 ) smaller t h a n d a m s and daughters. This result agrees with Sadjadi and Becker ( 1 9 8 0 ) and Macha and Becker ( 1 9 7 6 ) . Males did n o t have significantly m o r e a b d o m i n a l fat t h a n females in either generation; however, t h e percentage a b d o m i n a l fat was greater ( P < . 0 5 ) in males t h a n in females as s u p p o r t e d b y Sadjadi and Becker ( 1 9 8 0 ) , which is a reversal of t h e sex difference in
1397
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on May 10, 2015
INTRODUCTION
BECKER ET AL.
1398
TABLE 1.Means (± SD) for parental and progeny generations of Coturnix quail at 58 days of age
Generation
Live weight (g)
Abdominal fat weight (g)
Abdominal fat/live weight
Parent Sires (n=27) Dams (n=27)
120 1 ± 10 146 ± 1 1
4.13 ± 1.46 2.08 + 1.08
3.39 + 1.02 1.39 ± .64
Progeny Sons (n=48) Daughters (n==50)
118 ± 9 147 ± 11
3.31 ± 1.48 1.86 ± 1.16
2.75 ± 1.08 1.23 ± .65
1
Means for males and females in each generation were significantly different (P<.05).
Regression
Live weight
Sire-son Sire-daughter Dam-son Dam-daughter
.72 .05 .55 .70
— ± ± ± ±
.15 .46 .12 .15
broiler chickens (Becker et al., 1979). N o significant differences were found for t h e three traits b e t w e e n sires and sons o r d a m s a n d daughters. Heritability estimates from parent-offspring regressions for live weight and a b d o m i n a l fat are given in Table 2. Heritabilities for live weight were high e x c e p t for t h e sire-daughter estimate of . 0 5 . Heritability estimates for a b d o m i n a l f a t weight (.49 t o .80) and percentage abdominal fat (.45 t o .89) were high, which indicated t h a t a b d o m i n a l fat has a large genetic c o m p o n e n t in quail. Based o n these results there is an indication t h a t a selection m e t h o d could be used to reduce a b d o m i n a l fat and increase live weight.
parent-offspring
Abdominal fat weight
Abdominal fat/live weight
.80 .49 .68 .67
.88 .45 .89 .64
(g)
(%) ± .38 ± .33 ± .55 ± .43
+ .19 ± .26 ± .67 ± .41
REFERENCES Becker, W. A., 1984. Manual of Quantitative Genetics. 4th ed. Academic Enterprises, Pullman, WA. Becker, W. A., J. V. Spencer, L. W. Mirosh, and J. A. Verstrate, 1979. Prediction of fat and fat free live weight in broiler chickens using backskin fat, abdominal fat, and live body weight. Poultry Sci. 58:835-842. Macha, A. M., and W. A. Becker, 1976. Comparison of predicted with actual body weight selection gains of Coturnix coturnix japonica. Theoret. Appl. Genet. 47:251-255. Sadjadi, M., and W. A. Becker, 1980. Heritability and genetic correlations of body weight and surgically removed abdominal fat in Coturnix quail. Poultry Sci. 59:1977-1984. Steel, R.G.D., and J. H. Torrie, 1980. Principles and Procedures of Statistics. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, NY.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ by guest on May 10, 2015
TABLE 2. Heritabilities (± SE) of live weight and abdominal fat weight from regression for Coturnix quail at 58 days of age