Polymorphism of ghrelin genes among four Nigerian chicken populations as tool for improvement of chickens

Abstract

Research on polymorphism of ghrelin (GHRL), an acylated peptide that stimulates the release of growth hormone from the pituitary, has shown that it is associated with some essential growth genes in chicken, hence veritable in genomic selection. There is porous information on the polymorphism of GHRL genes among Nigerian chickens. The objective of this study was to determine polymorphism of ghrelin gene among four Nigerian chicken populations. Blood sample (0.5 ml) was collected from the wing vein of 102 birds for DNA extraction. Tested PCR products were sequenced following Macrogen INC. The SNPs were determined using the sequence alignment program, CLUSTAL W, implemented in MEGA software. The sequence results showed 25 SNPs. The Nigerian chickens varied in polymorphic sites from Ogun chickens (348 and 535) to Nsukka chickens (558 and 696) at the GHRL 1 and GHRL2 loci respectively. Polymorphic sites and diversity were higher among the Nsukka chicken than other populations of the Nigerian chickens. SNPs common to one geographic varied in another. The result revealed that genomic selection based on ghrelin SNPs may yield higher predictive accuracy, while Nsukka chickens could be useful for the creation of more superior lines for the global poultry industry. Since past studies have revealed that ghrelin gene stimulates the pituitary and hypothalamus for releasing growth factor (GF) hormone and have strong effect on many organs, we suggest an association study of ghrelin gene and growth traits.