Biochemical analyses of muscles from poultry bred for rapid growth (original) (raw)

In the current study, commercial broiler breeder hens were mated with either commercial broiler breeder males (B/B) or artificially inseminated with semen from Leghorn cockerels (B/L). Embryos and chicks from each mating were used to study the effects of paternal genotype on breast muscle myosin expression without the confounding effects of differences in egg size and embryo development due to maternal genotype. Specifically, the temporal transitions of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms within the pectoralis (P.) major and P. minor were measured. The relative concentration of the embryonic MyHC isoform increased from d 17 through 21 in ovo in both genotypes and was higher in B/B embryos than in B/L embryos (P ≤ 0.01). At 21 d posthatch, (Abbreviation Key: a = adult; B/B = broiler/broiler; B/L = broiler Leghorn; e = embryonic; mAb = monoclonal antibody; MyHC = myosin heavy chain; n = neonatal; P. = pectoralis; PBSM = phosphate-buffered saline with 5% nonfat dry milk; PSE = pale, soft, exudative.