Morphometric Diversity and Polymorphism of Melanocortin-4 Receptor (MC4R) Gene in Red Kedu and Kampung Chickens

The aim of this research was to compare morphometric differences and to determine the presence of MC4R gene polymorphisms in Red Kedu and Kampung chickens. This research used a total of 98 Red Kedu and Kampung chickens. The 37-week-old chickens were subjected to experimental study with morphometric measurements. PCR used a pair of MC4R primers based on GenBank access number AB01221 to amplify the PCR targets 221 base pairs long. Data analysis used the t-test to compare the morphometrics between Red Kedu and Kampung chickens. The genotype frequency, gene frequency, heterozygosity, and genetic distances determine the presence of polymorphisms. Analysis of variance to determine the effect of genotype on body weight and shank length. The results showed significant differences (P<0.05) between male and female Red Kedu and Kampung chickens in terms of body morphometric parameters. Sequencing of the PCR product found SNP in base pair 54G>C. GC and GG genotype frequencies of Red Kedu chicken were 0.51 and 0.49, while those of Kampung chicken were 0.32, 0.50, and the CC genotype was 0.18. Allele frequency for G and C of Red Kedu and Kampung chickens were 0.74 vs. 0.26 and 0.66 vs. 0.34, respectively, and the heterozygosity was 38% and 45%, respectively. The genetic distance between Red Kedu and Kampung chickens showed a close kinship of 0.42. Conclusively, the association of the MC4R gene had no significant effect (P>0.05) on body weight and shank length, and therefore, the MC4R gene could not be used as a marker assisted selection.