Association of SNPs in AMY1A and AMY2A genes with chicken meat quality and clinical-chemical traits in chicken

QTL studies can provide useful information with which to identify positional candidate genes and DNA sequence variations that can be used to develop genetic markers. In particular, the amylase in chicken serum may affect meat quality traits that are associated with improved starch digestion, which can be used as an indicator of the health status of a chicken. In this study, we investigated two amylase genes, AMY1A and AMY2A, because these genes are located in the QTL region affecting serum amylase levels. Association analyses based on a mixed linear model were performed to identify relationships between the SNPs present in these two genes and clinical-chemical and meat quality traits. As a result, we confirmed that these genes were not significantly associated with any clinical-chemical traits, indicating that these two genes are not directly involved in the amylase QTL effect. However, the AMYIA gene is significantly associated with the degree of yellow coloration (b ∗) in the thigh muscle, and the AMYSA gene is significantly associated with the water-holding capacity (WHO) of breast muscle. With further verifications, these genes could be used to improve the quality of these traits in chickens.