ARS | Publication request: DEVELOPING RECOMBINANT CONGENIC STRAINS (RCS) IN CHICKENS AS A TOOL TO STUDY GENETIC RESISTANCE TO MAREK'S DISEASE (MD)

Submitted to: World Congress of Genetics Applied in Livestock Production
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: January 15, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Nineteen Recombinant Congenic Strains (RCS) are under development by crossing the Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory inbred lines 63 and 72 that are Marek's disease (MD) resistant and susceptible, respectively. The F1 were backcrossed to line 63 for two generations, followed by yearly generations of brother-sister mating. Characterization of these RCS after 2-4 years of sib matings indicates that at least four strains are susceptible to MD despite the small portion (approximately 12.5%) of the susceptible line 72 in the genome. The portion of line 72 genome in the susceptible strains was partially tested by genotyping with microsatellite markers linked to eight regions containing QTL for MD resistance. These susceptible strains provide a valuable resource to study the complex nature of MD resistance by simplifying a multigenic trait to a series of single gene traits.