Genetic effects of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptor 2 on feather maturity in three chicken breeds

ABSTRACT

1. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the genetic effects of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR-2) on feather maturity in the Qingyuan partridge chicken, Guangxi sanhuang chicken and Princess chicken.

2. Both SSCP-PCR and qPCR were employed to detect the polymorphism and gene expression of the VEGF and VEGFR-2 genes.

3. Four SNPs were identified in the VEGFR-2 gene. Exon10-A69G was associated with feather maturity (P < 0.01). Princess chickens with the genotype EF had higher feather maturity scores (P < 0.01). Higher expression levels of VEGF and VEGFR-2 were detected in the immature feather group of Qingyuan partridge chickens, especially in the skin.

4. The VEGF and VEGFR-2 genes play critical roles in feather maturity. In addition, exon10-A69G and genotype EF in the Princess chicken could potentially be utilised as genetic markers to improve efficiency in breeding.

KEYWORDS:

• Broilers
• VEGF and VEGFR2 gene
• polymorphism
• expression
• breeding

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Special Program for Applied Technology Research and Development in Guangdong Province [2016B020233007]; EGuangdong Engineering and Technology  Research Center for Broiler's Comercial Breeding [2017.1649]; National Key Technology Support Program [2015BAD03B03].