Polymorphisms in Ion Transport Genes Are Associated with Eggshell Mechanical Property

Zhongyi Duan; Sirui Chen; Congjiao Sun; Fengying Shi; Guiqin Wu; Aiqiao Liu; Guiyun Xu; Ning Yang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130160

Polymorphisms in Ion Transport Genes Are Associated with Eggshell Mechanical Property

PLoS One. 2015 Jun 24;10(6):e0130160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130160. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Zhongyi Duan¹, Sirui Chen¹, Congjiao Sun¹, Fengying Shi², Guiqin Wu², Aiqiao Liu², Guiyun Xu¹, Ning Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and MOA Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
² Beijing Huadu Yukou Poultry Industry Co., Ltd., Beijing, China.

Abstract

Eggshell mechanical property traits such as eggshell breaking strength (ESS), eggshell thickness (EST) and eggshell weight (ESW) are most common and important indexes to evaluate eggshell quality in poultry industry. Uterine ion transporters involve in eggshell formation and might be associated with eggshell mechanical property traits. In this study, 99 SNPs in 15 ion transport genes were selected to genotype 976 pedigreed hens of Rhode Island Red. ESS, EST and ESW were measured for each bird at 55 weeks of age. The association study showed that 14 SNPs in 8 genes were significantly related (p < 0.05) with at least one trait, and their contributions to phenotypic variance ranged from 0.23% to 4.14%. Both ATP2A3 and SLC4A5 had a significant effect on all the three traits. Strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) was detected among SNPs in four genes: ATP2A3, ITPR1, SLC8A3, SCNN1a. The significant effects of those diplotypes on eggshell mechanical property traits were found, and their contributions to phenotypic variance ranged from 0.50% to 0.70%. It was concluded that the identified SNPs and diplotypes in this study were potential markers influencing the eggshell mechanical properties, which could contribute to the genetic improvement of eggshell quality.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Egg Shell / physiology*
Haplotypes
Ion Channels / genetics*
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*

Substances

Ion Channels

Grants and funding

The current research was supported in parts by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31472084), National High Technology Development Plan of China (2013AA102501), Programs for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research in University (IRT1191), and National Scientific Supporting Projects of China (2011BAD28B03). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. In this study, Beijing Huadu Yukou Poultry Industry Co., Ltd. provided support in the form of salaries for authors FS, GW and AL, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the “author contributions” section.