The Genetic Diversity and Origin of Chinese Game Chicken

Abstract

In order to reveal the genetic diversity and origin of Chinese game chicken, a total of 535 base pairs of mitochondrial cyt b gene of five game chicken breeds (40 individuals), including: Henan, Luxi, Tulufan, Xishuangbanna and Zhangzhou, were sequenced using a DNA sequencing method. The results showed that there were six haplotpes found in the five game chicken breeds. The haplotype diversity ranged from 0.42857 to 0.78571, and the nucleotide diversity ranged from 0.00080 to 0.00654. The greatest genetic difference was between the Zhangzhou game and other game chickens. The analysis of the phylogenetic trees for the chickens constructed based on their haplotypes, indicated that the Chinese game chicken may originate from several subspecies of red jungle fowl. In conclusion, the genetic diversity of Chinese game chicken is not rich, and the maternal origin of Chinese game chicken may be from several subspecies of red jungle fowl.