Avian

Genome-Wide Association Study of Growth and Feed Efficiency in Commercial Broiler Chickens

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Abstract

Improving feed efficiency is a major goal in broiler breeding due to its economic and environmental importance, yet the genic basis of feed efficiency-related traits remain largely unknown. A genome-wide association study was performed for growth and feed efficiency traits in a population of 2,334 male broiler chickens genotyped with a 60K SNP array. After quality control, 50,013 SNPs were retained for association testing with body weight at 4 weeks (BW4), body weight at 7 weeks (BW7), weight gain (WG), and residual feed intake (RFI). Associations were evaluated using linear regression models, with false discovery rate (FDR) correction applied to account for multiple testing. Significant associations were detected for all traits. BW4 showed strong enrichment on chromosomes 24 and 26, while BW7 partially overlapped these regions and exhibited additional signals on chromosome 1. Associations for WG were confined to chromosome 1, whereas RFI exhibited the most prominent signal on chromosome 6, along with additional loci distributed across several chromosomes. Candidate genes identified near significant loci included MYBPC1, CHPT1, and IGF1 for growth-related traits, and WDFY4, LRRC18, C10orf71, and TMEM72 for RFI. Overall, these findings support a polygenic genetic architecture for growth and feed efficiency in broilers and identifies genomic regions and candidate genes for growth and feed efficiency phenotypes.

Keywords: 2026

How to Cite:

Abasht, B., (2026) “Genome-Wide Association Study of Growth and Feed Efficiency in Commercial Broiler Chickens”, World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production Digital Archive 2026(1): 2295634. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/wcgalp.24353

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