STUDIES ON THE ACTION OF CREEPER GENE IN JAPANESE CHICKEN

Abstract

It was indicated by the genetical analysis that the short leg trait in Jitokko was controlled by a single dominant autosomal gene which was located at approximately the same locus as Cp gene reported by Landauer (1933a). The length of three leg long bones in heterozygous creeper embryos was about 4/5 of that in normal embryos. The lethal stage of homozygous creeper embryos obtained from the mating of Cp (WL-G) inter se was between 3 to 5 days of incubation. From histological and histochemical observations and counting of mitotic figures in tibiae, it was suggested that the Cp gene may precociously accerelate the differentiation of chondrocytes accompanied by the suppression of their proliferation.