Estimation of Genetic Parameters for Serum Clinical-chemical Traits in Korean Native Chickens

Abstract

Clinical-chemical traits are commonly used biomarkers to examine the health status of individuals. There is an appreciable range of normal variation in most clinical-chemical traits and the determining factors of this variation have been relatively uninvestigated in chickens. The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters (i.e., heritability, genetic correlation) for 8 clinical-chemical traits (glucose, total protein, creatinine, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase and amylase) in an F1 intercross established by purebred breeding among the 5 lines of Korean native chickens. Phenotypic data were collected from approximately 600 F1 animals. The genetic parameters for the clinical-chemical traits estimated by a mixed animal model using the restricted maximum likelihood method were presented. Estimated heritabilities ranged from 8.9% (glucose) to 39.6% (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Interestingly, both the sign and the size of the genetic and phenotypic correlations were largely different between the same several pair of clinical-chemical traits. The findings in this study will provide useful information to address issues in both quantitative trait locus study and genetic management in Korean native chickens.