Associations between polymorphisms in the myostatin, αA-globin and lactate dehydrogenase B genes and racing performance in homing pigeons

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between variability in the myostatin, α^A-globin and lactate dehydrogenase B genes and racing performance in homing pigeons. The study included 123 animals (60 females and 63 males) participating in racing competitions. The data set used in this study consisted of scores from 17 short (≤ 400 km) and 11 long races (≥ 500 km) (2589 race records in total). Our study is the first study to analyse the associations between polymorphisms in the myostatin, α^A-globin and lactate dehydrogenase B genes and racing performance in pigeons. However, no associations were found between the SNPs analysed and the studied traits.