Riboflavin Utilization by a Mutant Strain of Single Comb White Leghorn Chickens

MAW (1954) reported the discovery of a mutant strain of Single Comb White Leghorn (SCWL) chickens which, on a diet containing adequate riboflavin, produced eggs so deficient in this vitamin that all embryos died between the tenth and fourteenth day of incubation. He concluded that a mutant autosomal recessive gene was responsible for the inherited inability to produce eggs that contained sufficient riboflavin to support normal embryonic development. Boucher et al. (1959) found that, in birds homozygous for the recessive gene, the free riboflavin content of blood did not increase normally at the onset of and during egg production. As a result of this deficiency of blood riboflavin, there is an insufficient amount of the vitamin present for transfer to the egg. This paper reports the treatment of homozygous recessive (rdrd) birds in attempts to increase the riboflavin content of the blood. Means employed were injection of riboflavin, blood exchange…