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Genetic loci inherited from hens lacking maternal behaviour both inhibit and paradoxically promote this behaviour

Overview of attention for article published in Genetics Selection Evolution, December 2015
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Title
Genetic loci inherited from hens lacking maternal behaviour both inhibit and paradoxically promote this behaviour
Published in
Genetics Selection Evolution, December 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12711-015-0180-y
Pubmed ID
Authors

Atia Basheer, Chris S. Haley, Andy Law, Dawn Windsor, David Morrice, Richard Talbot, Peter W. Wilson, Peter J. Sharp, Ian C. Dunn

Abstract

A major step towards the success of chickens as a domesticated species was the separation between maternal care and reproduction. Artificial incubation replaced the natural maternal behaviour of incubation and, thus, in certain breeds, it became possible to breed chickens with persistent egg production and no incubation behaviour; a typical example is the White Leghorn strain. Conversely, some strains, such as the Silkie breed, are prized for their maternal behaviour and their willingness to incubate eggs. This is often colloquially known as broodiness. Using an F2 linkage mapping approach and a cross between White Leghorn and Silkie chicken breeds, we have mapped, for the first time, genetic loci that affect maternal behaviour on chromosomes 1, 5, 8, 13, 18 and 19 and linkage group E22C19W28. Paradoxically, heterozygous and White Leghorn homozygous genotypes were associated with an increased incidence of incubation behaviour, which exceeded that of the Silkie homozygotes for most loci. In such cases, it is likely that the loci involved are associated with increased egg production. Increased egg production increases the probability of incubation behaviour occurring because egg laying must precede incubation. For the loci on chromosomes 8 and 1, alleles from the Silkie breed promote incubation behaviour and influence maternal behaviour (these explain 12 and 26 % of the phenotypic difference between the two founder breeds, respectively). The over-dominant locus on chromosome 5 coincides with the strongest selective sweep reported in chickens and together with the loci on chromosomes 1 and 8, they include genes of the thyrotrophic axis. This suggests that thyroid hormones may play a critical role in the loss of incubation behaviour and the improved egg laying behaviour of the White Leghorn breed. Our findings support the view that loss of maternal incubation behaviour in the White Leghorn breed is the result of selection for fertility and egg laying persistency and against maternal incubation behaviour.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 29 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 29 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 5 17%
Professor 4 14%
Researcher 4 14%
Student > Doctoral Student 3 10%
Student > Ph. D. Student 3 10%
Other 4 14%
Unknown 6 21%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 12 41%
Neuroscience 3 10%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 7%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 1 3%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 1 3%
Other 3 10%
Unknown 7 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 September 2016.
All research outputs
#16,048,009
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Genetics Selection Evolution
#480
of 822 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#218,227
of 399,631 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Genetics Selection Evolution
#10
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 822 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.1. This one is in the 37th percentile – i.e., 37% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 399,631 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 47th percentile – i.e., 47% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.