title: Genetic resistance to mortality of day-old chicks and carrier-state of hens after inoculation with Salmonella enteritidis.
abstract: The heritability of resistance of poultry to Salmonella enteritidis (SE) was investigated. Three measurements of resistance were made: survival after intramuscular inoculation of 419 day-old chicks, absence versus presence of Salmonella in spleens and caeca 4 weeks after oral inoculation of 304 hens at peak of laying, and antibody response of 228 hens following two inoculations of an aroA mutant of this serotype. In the first two models of infection, resistance appeared to be heritable. The heritability was estimated from the sire and dam components, respectively, at 0.14 ± 0.10 and 0.62 ± 0.16 for chick mortality, 0.47 ± 0.21 and 0.13 ± 0.26 for resistance to spleen contamination, and 0.24 ± 0.15 and 0.53 ± 0.26 for resistance to caecal contamination in laying hens. By contrast the estimated heritability of antibody response was very low (0.03 ± 0.08 and 0.10 ± 0.08 when estimated from the sire and dam components, respectively). These results suggest that a selection for increased resistance to SE may be efficient.
authors.affiliation: a Station de Recherches Avicoles , INRA , Nouzilly , 37380 , France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beaumont
authors.affiliation: b Laboratoire Central de Recherches Aviaire et Porcine , CNEVA , Ploufragan , 22440 , France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Protais
authors.affiliation: c Station de Pathologie Aviaire et Parasitologie , INRA , Nouzilly , 37380 , France.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guillot
authors.affiliation: c Station de Pathologie Aviaire et Parasitologie , INRA , Nouzilly , 37380 , France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colin
authors.affiliation: d Station de Pathologie Aviaire , CNEVA , Ploufragan , 22440 , France.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Proux
authors.affiliation: a Station de Recherches Avicoles , INRA , Nouzilly , 37380 , France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Millet
authors.affiliation: e Station de Pathologie Infectieuse et Immunologie , INRA , Nouzilly , 37380 , France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pardon