Indian and Chinese Origins of West African Village Chickens as Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA Partial D-Loop Regions

Abstract

The study assessed the maternal genetic origins of West African village chickens using a 920-bp mtDNA D-loop region fragment of 127 samples from four populations (Gambia, Togo, Liberia and Nigeria). The mtDNA D-loop region was amplified following standard PCR protocols, using AV1F2: 5′-AGGACTACGGCTTGAAAAGC-3′ and 5′-TGCTTAAGGTTAATTACTGCTG-3′. as the forward and reverse primers respectively. Sequencing was done using Sanger’s dideoxy chain termination method. In addition, 268 sequence samples harvested from Genbank representing Gallus gallus from Africa, Mediterranean and different regions of Asia, were included in the analysis, bringing the total sample size to 395. 24 polymorphic sites and 13 West African chicken haplotypes (WAC1-13) were detected. The evolutionary relationships amongst studied populations and other African and global chicken populations were investigated using MEGA 7 and NETWORK 4.6 softwares. The results grouped 11 of the haplotypes including the dominant one (WAC1) with India, Pakistan and Egypt into haplogroup E, indicating an Indian sub-continental origin and Egypt as an entry point, while the other haplotypes (WAC8 and 10) clustered with haplogroup B widely believed to be of Chinese matrilineage and reported for the first time in West Africa by this study. Haplogroup B is thought to be a heritage of recent introgression of exotic alleles from commercial lines. The study shows that India and China were most likely geographic origins of the matriarchs of the West African village chickens.