EQTL analysis of laying hens divergently selected for feather pecking identifies KLF14 as a potential key regulator for this behavioral disorder.

ABSTRACT: Feather pecking in chickens is a damaging behavior, seriously impacting animal welfare and leading to economic losses. Feather pecking is a complex trait, which is partly under genetic control. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the etiology of feather pecking and notably, several studies have identified similarities between feather pecking and human mental disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. This study uses transcriptomic and phenotypic data from 167 chickens to map expression quantitative trait loci and to identify regulatory genes with a significant effect on this behavioral disorder using an association weight matrix approach. From 70 of the analyzed differentially expressed genes, 11,790 genome wide significantly associated variants were

SUBMITTER: Mott AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9428588 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature