Association of apolipoprotein B gene with body growth and fatness traits in Iranian commercial broiler lines

Apolipoproteins play a central role in the assembly, secretion, processing, and catabolism of lipoproteins. Apolipoprotein B (APOB) is the primary apolipoprotein of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and is responsible for carrying cholesterol to tissues. The current study was designed to investigate the associations of apoB gene polymorphism on chicken body growth and fatness traits. Genomic DNAs were extracted from 400 chickens from four different commercial broiler lines. Two polymorphisms of the apoB gene were found with restriction fragment length polymorphisms. The association between these polymorphisms and their haplotypes with chicken growth and fatness traits were analyzed using both single marker and haplotype analysis. Polymorphisms in apoB gene and haplotypes were significantly (P < 0.1) associated with body growth and fatness traits. This research suggests that apoB gene could be a candidate locus or linked to a major gene(s) that affects growth and fatness traits in the chicken.