2020/04/20 by Y. Du, Yanli Du, L. Liu +8
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Animal Nutrition and Physiology #Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
paper · doi:10.1080/00071668.2020.1758299
openalex publication_date 2020/04/20 · crossref created 2020/04/20 · crossref issued 2020/06/01 · crossref published 2020/06/01 · crossref published-online 2020/06/01 · crossref published-print 2020/09/02 · crossref deposited 2021/05/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
1. Egg-laying performance reflects the overall reproductive performance of breeding hens. The genetic traits for egg-laying performance have low or medium heritability, and, depending on the period involved, usually ranges from 0.16 to 0.64. Egg-laying in chickens is regulated by a combination of environmental, endocrine and genetic factors. 2. The main endocrine factors that regulate egg-laying are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), prolactin (PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH). 3. In the last three decades, many studies have explored this aspect at a molecular genetic level. Recent studies identified 31 reproductive hormone-based candidate genes that were significantly associated with egg-laying performance. With the development of genome-sequencing technology, 64 new candidate genes and 108 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to egg-laying performance have been found using genome-wide association studies (GWAS), providing novel insights into the molecular genetic mechanisms governing egg production. At the same time, microRNAs that regulate genes responsible for egg-laying in chickens were reviewed. 4. Research on endocrinological and genetic factors affecting egg-laying performance will greatly improve the reproductive performance of chickens and promote the protection, development, and utilisation of poultry. This review summarises studies on the endocrine and genetic factors of egg-laying performance in chickens from 1972 to 2019.