Microsatellite loci diversity and their association with different traits in two Japanese quail lines

This study investigated genetic variability and microsatellite-growth associations in a selected high-growth (HGR, n=56) and a control (CL, n=36) Japanese quail line. The HGR line exhibited significantly higher body weights from 7 to 35 days. Analysis of 20 microsatellite loci revealed 87 alleles. Genetic diversity was higher in the CL line (effective alleles, heterozygosity), while the HGR line had more different alleles. Molecular variance was primarily among individuals within lines (85%), with 13% between lines. Principal coordinate analysis confirmed clear genetic divergence. Association analysis revealed specific microsatellite alleles significantly linked to growth performance. In the selected line, the NGJ0026 (118 bp) allele was significantly associated with body weight at 7 and 14 days of age, explaining 4.4% and 5.4% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. Furthermore, the NGJ0034 (210 bp) allele was significantly associated with overall growth rate, accounting for 3.6% of its variance. These findings indicate that individual alleles play an important role in the genetic architecture of growth traits and highlight NGJ0026 and NGJ0034 as potential candidate markers for marker-assisted selection. Future validation of these markers in independent, larger populations could enable their direct application in quail breeding programs to accelerate genetic progress for growth.