Correlation Analysis of Estrogen Receptor Gene Polymorphism and Growth Traits in Meat Quail (Coturnix coturnix)

In this study, PCR-RFLP was used to analyze the correlation between estrogen receptor (ESR) gene polymorphism and growth traits in two populations of quail. The results showed that three genotypes, CC, CT and TT, were detected in exon 1, exon 4 and exon 8 of ESR gene. The frequencies of CC genotype in expressed exon 1 of ESR gene were the highest in french giant quail and savimit quail (0.531 and 0.778, respectively). The frequencies of TT genotype in expressed exon 4 of ESR gene were the highest in french giant quail and savimit quail (0.338 and 0.581, respectively). The frequencies of TT genotype in expressed exon 8 of ESR gene were the highest in french giant quail and savimit quail (0.544 and 0.838, respectively). The research in this paper demonstrated the significant associations of exon 1 of ESR gene with sternal length and body length (P<0.05), exon 8 with body length (P<0.05), and exon 4 with body weight, chest width, and tibial circumference of meat quails (P<0.05).