Animal Molecular Breeding 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 62-71 http://animalscipublisher.com/index.php/amb 62 Research Report Open Access Genetic Strategies in Poultry to Combat Environmental Stress: An Analysis Based on GWAS Xiaofang Lin, Haiyong Chen Tropical Animal Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China Corresponding author email: 2604808181@qq.com Animal Molecular Breeding, 2024, Vol.14, No.1 doi: 10.5376/amb.2024.14.0008 Received: 01 Dec., 2023 Accepted: 15 Jan., 2024 Published: 07 Feb., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Lin and Chen, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Lin X.F., and Chen H.Y., 2024, Genetic strategies in poultry to combat environmental stress: an analysis based on GWAS, Animal Molecular Breeding, 14(1): 62-71 (doi: 10.5376/amb.2024.14.0008) Abstract This study meticulously explores the application of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in enhancing the adaptability of poultry to environmental stressors and its significant contribution to promoting the sustainable development of the poultry industry. Environmental challenges facing poultry production, including extreme climate conditions, increasingly severe disease threats, and the scarcity of nutritional resources, pose significant threats to their growth, development, and overall health. By deeply analyzing the breakthroughs achieved by GWAS technology in revealing the key genetic factors in poultry's response to these environmental stresses, this study highlights the pivotal role of genetic improvement in enhancing poultry's environmental adaptability. This study further details how the findings from GWAS research can be effectively applied in poultry breeding practices, encompassing both its immense potential and the challenges faced. Moreover, in view of the development of future poultry genetic research and breeding strategies, this study offers an in-depth outlook, especially emphasizing the necessity of continuous technological innovation and the protection of genetic diversity. This is crucial not only for addressing current and future environmental challenges but also for ensuring the long-term development of the poultry industry. Keywords Poultry industry; Environmental stress; Genome-wide association studies (GWAS); Genetic improvement; Adaptability As the global population grows and consumption habits change, the poultry industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Among these challenges, environmental stress is one of the most direct and significant factors that have an impact on poultry health and productivity (Oloyo and Ojerinde, 2019). Environmental stresses include extreme climatic conditions, disease outbreaks, unstable supplies of feed resources, and increasing environmental pollution. These pressures not only threaten the well-being and survival of poultry, but also directly affect the quality and supply of poultry products, thereby affecting global food security and agricultural economies. Faced with these challenges, scientists and livestock farmers have been looking for ways to improve poultry's adaptability to environmental stress. Among them, Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), as a powerful genetic analysis tool, has become one of the key technologies to solve this problem. GWAS can help scientists identify key genetic variations that influence poultry's response to environmental stress by analyzing the association between millions of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genome and specific phenotypes (Wang et al., 2024). These findings not only deepen researchers' understanding of the genetic basis of poultry adaptation, but also provide new directions for breeding, making it possible to develop poultry breeds that can better cope with environmental stress. The application of genetic strategies, especially those based on GWAS, provides the poultry industry with an effective way to enhance adaptability. Through precise genetic selection and breeding, poultry's resistance to environmental stresses such as heat stress, disease and nutritional deficiencies can be significantly improved. In addition, these genetic strategies can also help reduce dependence on antibiotics and improve feed conversion efficiency, thereby improving production efficiency and sustainability while ensuring poultry health (Yu et al., 2024). This study is to use GWAS analysis to deeply explore the genetic response mechanisms of poultry to environmental stress, and how to use these mechanisms to improve the adaptability of poultry through genetic
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