Correlation Analysis of Exon 4 of Estrogen Receptor Gene with Growth Traits of Quail (Coturnix coturnix)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of estrogen receptor gene (ESR) polymorphism on the growth traits of quails. PCR products were used to directly sequence the polymorphism of exon 4 of ESR gene in three quail populations (Chinese yellow quail, Korean quail, Beijing white quail) and analyze the association between ESR gene and growth traits of quails. The results show that three genotypes, CC, CT and TT, were detected in exon 4 of ESR1 gene in three quail populations. The highest frequencies of TT gene were 0.409 and 0.617 in China yellow quail and Korean quail, respectively. The highest frequencies of CC gene were 0.667 in Beijing white quail. For exon 4 of ESR1 gene in China yellow quail (P<0.05), the weight and tibial length of the TT genotype were significantly higher than the CT and CC genotype (P<0.05). Among Beijing white quail, the weight of CC genotype was significantly higher than that of CT and TT genotypes (P<0.05), and the sternum length of CC genotype was significantly higher than that of TT genotype (P<0.05). Among Korean quail, the body weight of CT genotype was significantly higher than that of CT and TT genotype (P<0.05), and the tibial length of CT genotype was significantly higher than that of TT genotype (P<0.05). It was found that exon 4 of ESR1 gene was significantly associated with body weight, tibial length and sternum length of egg quail (P<0.05).