Repository logo
 

Genetic evaluation of South African indigenous chickens for disease resistance.

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorZishiri, Oliver Tendayi.
dc.contributor.advisorGhai, Meenu.
dc.contributor.authorNduna, Nonhlanhla Bridget.
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-18T09:10:36Z
dc.date.available2016-11-18T09:10:36Z
dc.date.created2015
dc.date.issued2015
dc.descriptionMaster of Science in Genetics. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2015.en_US
dc.description.abstractAn alternative standard disease control method would be selective breeding in order to increase disease resistance. To set up marker assisted selection programmes, knowledge of the genetic diversity of the chickens is required. To date, indigenous South African chicken lines have received little scientific attention and has never been subjected to purposive selective breeding for any particular trait. The objective of the study was to investigate genetic variation within genes involved in innate and adaptive immune system response. The innate immune system genes which were studied were the Toll Like Receptor-4 (TLR-4), Myeloid Differential protein-2 (MD-2) and Solute Carrier Family 11 member A1 (SCL11A1) genes. The PCR-RFLP method was used to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms in these genes and thereafter, the electrophoretic patterns were analysed and used to compute population genetic analyses. The indigenous chickens were moderately outbred at the TLR-4-Sau 96I and INOS-Alu I loci as indicated by high observed heterozygosity figures of 0.78 and 0.51 respectively and low fixation indices. The hypothesis of indigenous chicken population having a more genetic variation was supported by the results that showed the high observed homozygosity in commercial chickens at the SLC11A1-Sac I locus. The Major Histocompatibility Complex is composed of genes responsible for the adaptive immune system response. The genetic variation in the LEI0258 microsatellite marker within the MHC was investigated in indigenous chicken populations in South Africa and across the 3 populations, 36 alleles were detected and of these, 11 of them were private alleles. Observed heterozygosity levels and high fixation indices suggested a level of inbreeding at this locus. It was concluded that the sampled South African chicken populations were moderately inbred at the MHC locus and that the inbreeding may be due to natural selection of certain alleles in order to acclimate to the natural environment more effectively.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10413/13737
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_US
dc.subjectPoultry--Diseases--Genetic aspects.en_US
dc.subjectPoultry--Genetics.en_US
dc.subjectPoultry--Disease resistance.en_US
dc.subjectNatural immunity.en_US
dc.subjectMajor histocompatibility complex.en_US
dc.subjectTheses--Genetics.en_US
dc.subjectPoultry--Genetic evaluation.en_US
dc.subjectInnate immune response.en_US
dc.subject.otherDisease resistance.en_US
dc.subject.otherIndigenous chickens.en_US
dc.subject.otherHeterozygosity.en_US
dc.subject.otherInnate immune response.en_US
dc.subject.otherMajor histocompatibility complex.en_US
dc.titleGenetic evaluation of South African indigenous chickens for disease resistance.en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Nduna_Nonhlanhla_Bridget_2015.pdf
Size:
2.23 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Thesis
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.64 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Masters Degrees (Genetics)