恐惧行为给养禽生产带来经济损失,传统选育方法很难将其淘汰。随着全基因扫描、数量性状定位(QTL)及比较基因组技术的进步,禽类恐惧行为遗传调控研究取得重要进展。禽类恐惧行为存在品种、性别上的差异,通过双向选择已经在鸡、鹌鹑及圆环雉上构建恐惧反应不同的品系。候选基因碱基多样性分析结果表明,血清素、多巴胺受体等基因与恐惧行为相关,但研究结果仍有待进一步验证。鸡全基因组关联分析发现9个染色体37个位点携带恐惧相关基因。禽类恐惧行为遗传调控研究将为品种选育及改良提供支持。
Fearful behavior remained to be an important cause of loss in poultry production,it would be hardly picked out by traditional methods. With the advances of genome-wide association study, comparative genomics and QTL mapping, great pro- gress had been made in identifying genes related to fearful behavior in poultry. Expression in fearful behavior were significantly differences between breeds and sex. Chicken, quail and pheasant had been selectively bred to show differences in fearful behav- ior through bidirectional selection. It had been reported that polymorphisms of candidate genes, such as serotonin genes, dopa- mine receptor, were associated with fearful behavior. However, many of these results had needed further confirmation. Based on the results from genome-wide linkage and association analyses on different subject populations, 37 loci located on 9 chromo- somes were reported to harbor fearful genes in chicken. It's expected that the dissections in genetic architecture of avian fearful behavior would provide a basis on selection and genetic improvement on local breed.