The chicken growth hormone (cGH) gene has an important function in chicken growth and reproduction. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most frequently found DNA sequence variations in the animal genome and can be used as genetic markers for association analysis with economic traits. The primary aim of this study was to identify SNPs in cGH as potential candidate genes for growth and production traits in Iranian chicken. In this study 150 blood samples were collected and a specific primer was designed for amplifying a fragment of cGH gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were sequenced. Sequencing was compared and aligned with the sequence obtained from the gene bank (accession number AY461843). Eleven SNPs were identified, one of which was common to all individuals. The association of other SNPs with the breeding values of individuals for five traits including body weight at 1 day of age (BW1), body weight at 8 weeks (BW8), body weight at 12 weeks (BW12), egg number (EGG NO), and age of sexual maturity (ASM), which were predicted by univariate animal model using ASREML, was investigated. This analysis showed that SNPs in 844 C/T were significantly associated with body weight at all ages measured. SNPs in 662 G/A were mainly related to BW1 and BW8. SNPs in 1025 T/C were significant affected on BW1 and SNPs in 762 C/A were significantly associated with ASM and EGGNO.
