Estimation of Crossbreeding Parameters for Serum Lysozyme Level in Broiler

The main objective of the present study is to estimate the crossbreeding parameters in respect to serum lysozyme level in broilers. The experiment involved a complete $4{\times}4$ diallel design using four synthetic broiler lines namely Coloured Synthetic Male Line (CSML), White Synthetic Male Line (WSML), Coloured Synthetic Female Line (CSFL) and Naked Neck Line (NNL). The lyophilised Micrococcus lysodeikticus suspension was used to detect the lysozyme level in the serum of birds. The data were analysed by least-squares method to find the effects of genetic and non-genetic factors using appropriate model. The crossbreeding parameters for this trait were estimated by complete diallel model assuming the effect of each synthetic line as fixed. The results indicated that additive and non-additive genetic variation attributed to minor genes at many loci is important for the genetic control of serum lysozyme level in chickens. Total non-additive components of variance also showed significant amount of heterosis in crossbred progenies, and therefore exploitation of non-additive component of variance is possible for improvement in serum lysozyme level in broilers. The overall results suggested that for commercial broiler production system, the selection for specialised line on the basis of serum lysozyme level and subsequent crossing of parent lines could enhance the immunocompetence status in relation to serum lysozyme level in crossbred chickens.