[Destabilizing effect of chicken selection using the functional adrenal reserves criteria]

Chicken lines produced by divergent selection for the functional adrenal reserves showed significant between-line differences in the content of corticosterone and other hormones (thyroxin, progesterone), as well as in body weight, early maturation, and egg yield. DNA fingerprinting with the pGB725 probe revealed molecular changes in genomic DNA of the chicken lines subjected to plus and minus selection. The genetic distances between the original population and the selected chicken lines, which were estimated from the molecular hybridization patterns, reflected the history of breeding. Analysis of mixed DNA from several individuals of each line revealed specific hybridization bands that could serve as DNA markers during selection for the high and low corticosterone levels in blood.