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Updated: Dec 12, 2025
Author Spotlight: Exploring Neural Correlates of Defensive Behaviors in Fear Learning and Extinction
Published on: December 15, 2023
Genetic Architecture of Innate Fear Behavior in Chickens
Akira Ishikawa1, Marina Sakaguchi2, Atsushi J Nagano3
1Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan. ishikawa@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
Abstract:
The genetic architecture of innate fear behavior in chickens is poorly understood. Here, we performed quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of innate responses to tonic immobility (TI) and open field (OF) fears in 242 newly hatched chicks of an F2 population between the native Japanese Nagoya breed and the White Leghorn breed using 881 single nucleotide polymorphism markers obtained by restriction site-associated DNA sequencing. At genome-wide 5% significance levels, four QTL for TI traits were revealed on chromosomes 1-3 and 24. Two of these loci had sex-specific effects on the traits. For OF traits, three QTL were revealed on chromosomes 2, 4 and 7. The TI and OF QTL identified showed no overlaps in genomic regions and different modes of inheritance. The three TI QTL and one OF QTL exerted antagonistic effects on the traits. The results demonstrated that context-dependent QTL underlie the variations in innate TI and OF behaviors.
