Proviral integrations and expression of endogenous Avian leucosis virus during long term selection for high and low body weight in two chicken lines

Conclusion: We conclude that only a few of the integrations contribute to the high expression levels seen in the LWS line and that high ALVE expression was significantly correlated with lower body weights for the females but not males. The conserved correlation between high expression and low body weight in females after 9 generations of intercrosses, indicated that ALVE loci conferring high expression directly affects growth or are very closely linked to loci regulating growth.