1. Genetic Determinism of Fearfulness, General Activity and Feeding Behavior in Chickens and Its Relationship with Digestive Efficiency
- Author
-
Marie-Yvonne Boscher, Nadine Sellier, Aline Bertin, Elisabeth Le Bihan-Duval, Sandrine Mignon-Grasteau, Céline Chantry-Darmon, Unité de Recherches Avicoles (URA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Laboratoire d'Analyse Génétique pour les Espèces Animales (LABOGENA), Pôle d'Expérimentation Avicole de Tours (UE PEAT), Physiologie de la reproduction et des comportements [Nouzilly] (PRC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation [Saumur]-Université de Tours (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), National Agency for Research in France, Contract ANR-09-GENM-007, Recherches Avicoles (SRA), Pôle d'Expérimentation Avicole de Tours (PEAT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Tours-Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation [Saumur]-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), and Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation [Saumur]-Université de Tours-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,gallus gallus domesticus ,Inheritance Patterns ,heritability ,comportement animal ,Tonic (physiology) ,Feeding behavior ,Genetics (clinical) ,2. Zero hunger ,Meal ,comportement alimentaire ,Behavior, Animal ,qtl ,genêtic determinism ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Fear ,Digestion ,medicine.medical_specialty ,[SDV.OT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Other [q-bio.OT] ,déterminisme génétique ,chicken ,Quantitative Trait Loci ,poulet ,Zoology ,Quantitative trait locus ,Biology ,food habits ,paramètre génétique ,Genetic correlation ,digestive efficiency ,Genetic determinism ,03 medical and health sciences ,Immobilization ,Quantitative Trait, Heritable ,Internal medicine ,Genetic variation ,Genetics ,medicine ,Animals ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Genetic Association Studies ,0402 animal and dairy science ,Feeding Behavior ,Heritability ,040201 dairy & animal science ,030104 developmental biology ,Endocrinology ,dogestive efficiency ,genetic variance ,Chickens ,efficacité digestive - Abstract
The genetic relationships between behavior and digestive efficiency were studied in 860 chickens from a cross between two lines divergently selected on digestive efficiency. At 2 weeks of age each chick was video-recorded in the home pen to characterize general activity and feeding behavior. Tonic immobility and open-field tests were also carried out individually to evaluate emotional reactivity (i.e. the propensity to express fear responses). Digestive efficiency was measured at 3 weeks. Genetic parameters of behavior traits were estimated. Birds were genotyped on 3379 SNP markers to detect QTLs. Heritabilities of behavioral traits were low, apart from tonic immobility (0.17–0.18) and maximum meal length (0.14). The genetic correlations indicated that the most efficient birds fed more frequently and were less fearful. We detected 14 QTL (9 for feeding behavior, 3 for tonic immobility, 2 for frequency of lying). Nine of them co-localized with QTL for efficiency, anatomy of the digestive tract, feed intake or microbiota composition. Four genes involved in fear reactions were identified in the QTL for tonic immobility on GGA1.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF