Abstract
A total of 587 individuals from 12 indigenous chicken breeds from South China and two commercial breeds were genotyped for 26 microsatellites to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure. All micro- satellites were found to be polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 to 36, with an average of 12.10 7.00 (SE). All breeds, except White Recessive Rock, had high allelic polymorphism (>0.5). Higher genetic diversity was revealed in the indigenous chicken breeds rather than in the commercial breeds. Potential introgression from the commercial breeds into the indigenous chickens was also detected. The population structure of these indigenous chicken breeds could be explained by their geographical distribution, which suggested the presence of independent history of breed formation. Data generated in this study will provide valuable information to the conservation for indigenous chicken breeds in future.
Highlights
Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are the most important poultry species providing humans with a stable source of protein[1]
This research focused on reassessing the genetic diversity and population structure in indigenous chicken breeds from South China based on larger sample sizes as well as more microsatellites, with the aim of providing data to enable the design of conservation strategies for this valuable genetic resource
Lingnan Yellow III (LN) are mixed with the lineage of Huiyang Bearded chicken and Guangxi Yellow chicken, and are largely raised in Guangdong, while White Recessive Rock (WR), which were introduced from Israel, are usually used to assistant breeding in China
Summary
Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are the most important poultry species providing humans with a stable source of protein[1]. The genetic diversity of indigenous chicken breeds is a valuable resource for breeding and understanding the extent of genetic diversity is important for resource conservation and molecular breeding[2,3,4,5]. There are abundant indigenous chickens especially the three-yellow (feather, skin and shank are yellow) breeds in South China. Due mostly to a paucity of sampled breeds[6,7,8] and genotyped markers[6], the patterns of genetic diversity distribution and population structure remain unclear. This research focused on reassessing the genetic diversity and population structure in indigenous chicken breeds from South China based on larger sample sizes as well as more microsatellites, with the aim of providing data to enable the design of conservation strategies for this valuable genetic resource
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