The identification, mapping and expression of CLOCK in the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus)

Abstract

Egg production in the domestic chicken, Gallus domesticus has been improved over the last 60 years to around 300 eggs per year or an egg every 28.8 hours. Response to selection for egg production by standard, however, has reached a plateau and many researchers agree that further improvement is unlikely by conventional selective breeding strategies. This thesis describes the identification and sequencing of the chicken homologue of the mouse Clock gene and its characterisation by polymorphism detection, chromosomal location, and expression in a variety of adult tissues and embryos.Several tests were conducted and results given. The study contributes substantially to the knowledge of the structure of the CLOCK gene in the chicken and its expression as a circadian rhythm gene in adults and embryos. Further, the work provides evidence for function of CLOCK outside the circadian system and has provided molecular markers with future applications in developmental biology and egg production in Gallus domesticus

Date of Award	2000
Original language	English