Studying exterior parameters in Russian white chickens in connection with polymorphic variants in the LCORL gene

The purpose of research is to study the relationship between exterior traits and body weight of Russian White chickens with single nucleotide substitution A503G in the LCORL gene. The study was conducted on Russian White chickens (n = 101) of the Central Collective Use Center "Genetic Collection of Rare and Endangered Breeds of Chickens". The material was DNA isolated from chicken blood using proteinase K and phenol. Weighing and measurement were carried out at the age of 270 days. Measurement of the exterior parameters of chickens, taking into account the length of individual parts of the body, was carried out using a measuring compass. The girth parameters were measured with a measuring tape. To analyze the polymorphism, the A503G substitution in the LCORL gene was analyzed. According to the results of PCR analysis, individuals with different genotypes according to the studied replacement were identified. The occurrence of alleles A and G for SNP A503G of the LCORL gene was 0.673 and 0.327, respectively. There was no shift in the genetic balance for the studied SNP (χ2 = 0.010). A comparative assessment of the relationship between average values of live weight and exterior indicators showed that individuals with the GG genotype are superior to carriers of other genotypes in a number of indicators. Significant (at p ≤ 0.0001) differences were noted in terms of live weight, chest depth, leg length, body length, metatarsus length, body length with neck, metatarsal girth, and pelvic width. It is assumed that polymorphic variants of the 503A/G single nucleotide substitution of the LCORL gene can be considered as a DNA marker of chicken conformation and used in the selection of parental pairs in breeding in order to correct the productivity of local chicken populations.