Genetic variation of liver lipid content of coturnix quail

Two experiments were conducted to elucidate the genetic variation in the liver lipid content of coturnix quail. In Experiment 1, the change of the liver lipid content with advancing age was studied. In Experiment 2, the genetic variation of the liver lipid content at 4 weeks of age was analyzed. Liver lipid was extracted with ethanol-ether solution and weighed. Genetic parameters of liver lipid content, body weight, and liver weight were estimated from sib analysis. The means of liver lipid content at 2 and 4 weeks of age were approximately 25% on a dry weight basis in both sexes. After 6 weeks of age, the liver lipid content of the female was higher than that of the male. The liver lipid content of the egg-laying female was slightly higher than that of the nonlaying female. Heritability (h2sire) of liver lipid content from 4-week-old coturnix quail was estimated as h2sire: .62 +/- .73.