PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION AND FUNCTIONAL POLYMORPHISMS AT PROLACTIN AND VIPR1 GENES IN EMERGING POULTRY SPECIES FROM WESTERN KENYA

Abstract

Poultry are kept as a source of food as well as a source of income by millions of rural poor families globally. In addition to chicken, emerging poultry species including ducks, geese, pigeons, turkeys and quails are also reared. The aim of this study was to characterize the phenotypic traits of emerging poultry species from Western Kenya and to evaluate functional polymorphisms in Prolactin and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide receptor 1 (VIPR1) candidate genes for egg production in these species. A cross sectional study design was employed with 214 poultry being sampled. R Core statistical package was used to investigate the relationship between sex and the morphometric measurements. Sexual dimorphism in favour of males was evident in ducks, geese, pigeons and turkey. The opposite was true for the wild quails where the females had higher body weights and longer shanks compared to the males. A total of 105 poultry were used for the molecular work, with 20-32 poultry per species. Prolactin and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide Receptor 1 genes were amplified via PCR and the amplicons sequenced. The pigeon prolactin sequences clustered into four haplotypes while the quail VIPR1 sequences formed eight haplotypes. The prolactin and VIPR1 sequences for the other poultry species were all found to be monomorphic. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed variation among individuals to be 66.41% while within individuals to be 33.59% in the pigeons. In the wild quails variation amongst individuals variation was 88.41% while within individuals was 11.59%. The results from this study are the first step towards identifying and recording the animal genetic resources from emerging poultry species in Kenya.