DNA polymorphism in the chicken growth hormone gene: Association with egg production

Restriction fragment length polymorphic markers in the chicken growth hormone (GH) gene were tested for their association with egg production traits. Alleles of GH were determined in 3 non-inbred strains from different genetic bases. The frequency of PS1 (+) allele in the three strains was very low in contrast to the layer strain previously reported. Results of the present study indicate that the frequency of PS (+) is related to egg production and that the PS1 (+) allele may be used as a genetic marker for selection in egg production.