Analysis of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among red jungle fowls and Chinese domestic fowls

Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among 568 individuals of two red jungle fowl subspe- cies (Gallus gallus spadiceus in China and Gallus gallus gallus in Thailand) and 14 Chinese domestic chicken breeds were evaluated with 29 microstaellite loci, the genetic variability within population and genetic differentiation among population were estimated, and then genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships were analyzed among red jungle fowls and Chinese domestic fowls. A total of 286 alleles were detected in 16 population with 29 microsatellite markers and the average number of the alleles observed in 29 microsatellite loci was 9.86±6.36. The overall expected heterozygosity of all population was 0.6708±0.0251, and the number of population deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium per locus ranged from 0 to 7. In the whole population, the average of genetic differentiation among population, measured as FST value, was 16.7% (P<0.001), and all loci contributed significantly (P<0.001) to this differentiation. It can also be seen that the deficit of heterozygotes was very high (0.015) (P<0.01). Reynolds' distance values varied between 0.036 (Xiaoshan chicken-Luyuan chicken pair) and 0.330 (G. gallus gallus-Gushi chicken pair). The Nm value ranged from 0.533 (between G. gallus gallus and Gushi chicken) to 5.833 (between Xiaoshan chicken and Luyuan chicken). An unrooted consensus tree was constructed using the neighbour-joining method and the Reynolds' genetic distance. The heavy-body sized chicken breeds, Luyuan chicken, Xiaoshan chicken, Beijing Fatty chicken, Henan Game chicken, Huainan Partridge and Langshan chicken formed one branch, and it had a close genetic relationship between Xiaoshan chicken-Luyuan chicken pair and Chahua chicken-Tibetan chicken pair. Chahua chicken and Tibetan chicken had closer genetic relationship with these two subspecies of red jungle fowl than other domestic chicken breeds. G. gallus spadiceus showed closer phylogenetic relationship with Chinese domestic chicken breeds than G. gallus gallus. All 29 microstaellite loci in this study showed high levels of polymorphism and significant genetic differentiation was observed among two subspecies of red jungle fowl and 14 Chinese domestic chicken breeds. The evolutional dendrogram is as follows: evolutional breeds→primitive breeds (Chahua chicken and Tibetan)→red jungle fowl in China (G. gallus spadiceus)→red jungle fowl in Thailand (G. gallus gallus). The results supported the theory that the domestic fowls might originate from different subspecies of red jungle fowl and Chinese domestic fowls had independent origin.     

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure Analysis Between Indian Red Jungle Fowl and Domestic Chicken Using Microsatellite Markers

The present study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity, population structure, and relatedness in Indian red jungle fowl (RJF, Gallus gallus murgi) from northern India and three domestic chicken populations (gallus gallus domesticus), maintained at the institute farms, namely White Leghorn (WL), Aseel (AS) and Red Cornish (RC) using 25 microsatellite markers. All the markers were polymorphic, the number of alleles at each locus ranged from five (MCW0111) to forty-three (LEI0212) with an average number of 19 alleles per locus. Across all loci, the mean expected heterozygosity and polymorphic information content were 0.883 and 0.872, respectively. Population-specific alleles were found in each population. A UPGMA dendrogram based on shared allele distances clearly revealed two major clusters among the four populations; cluster I had genotypes from RJF and WL whereas cluster II had AS and RC genotypes. Furthermore, the estimation of population structure was performed to understand how genetic variation is partitioned within and among populations. The maximum ?K value was observed for K = 4 with four identified clusters. Furthermore, factorial analysis clearly showed four clustering; each cluster represented the four types of population used in the study. These results clearly, demonstrate the potential of microsatellite markers in elucidating the genetic diversity, relationships, and population structure analysis in RJF and domestic chicken populations.     

Genetic diversity of Hungarian indigenous chicken breeds based on microsatellite markers

Six local chicken breeds are registered in Hungary and are regarded as Hungarian national treasures: Hungarian White, Yellow and Speckled, and Transylvanian Naked Neck White, Black and Speckled. Three Hungarian academic institutes have maintained these genetic resources for more than 30 years. The Hungarian Yellow, the Hungarian Speckled and the Transylvanian Naked Neck Speckled breeds were kept as duplicates in two separate subpopulations since time of formation of conservation flocks at different institutes. In this study, we investigated genetic diversity of these nine Hungarian chicken populations using 29 microsatellite markers. We assessed degree of polymorphism and relationships within and between Hungarian breeds on the basis of molecular markers, and compared the Hungarian chicken populations with commercial lines and European local breeds. In total, 168 alleles were observed in the nine Hungarian populations. The F _ST estimate indicated that about 22% of the total variation originated from variation between the Hungarian breeds. Clustering using structure software showed clear separation between the Hungarian populations. The most frequent solutions were found at K  = 5 and K  = 6, respectively, classifying the Transylvanian Naked Neck breeds as a separate group of populations. To identify genetic resources unique to Hungary, marker estimated kinships were estimated and a safe set analysis was performed. We show that the contribution of all Hungarian breeds together to the total diversity of a given set of populations was lower when added to the commercial lines than when added to the European set of breeds.     

Biodiversity of 52 chicken populations assessed by microsatellite typing of DNA pools

In a project on the biodiversity of chickens funded by the European Commission (EC), eight laboratories collaborated to assess the genetic variation within and between 52 populations from a wide range of chicken types. Twenty-two di-nucleotide microsatellite markers were used to genotype DNA pools of 50 birds from each population. The polymorphism measures for the average, the least polymorphic population (inbred C line) and the most polymorphic population (Gallus gallus spadiceus) were, respectively, as follows: number of alleles per locus, per population: 3.5, 1.3 and 5.2; average gene diversity across markers: 0.47, 0.05 and 0.64; and proportion of polymorphic markers: 0.91, 0.25 and 1.0. These were in good agreement with the breeding history of the populations. For instance, unselected populations were found to be more polymorphic than selected breeds such as layers. Thus DNA pools are effective in the preliminary assessment of genetic variation of populations and markers. Mean genetic distance indicates the extent to which a given population shares its genetic diversity with that of the whole tested gene pool and is a useful criterion for conservation of diversity. The distribution of population-specific (private) alleles and the amount of genetic variation shared among populations supports the hypothesis that the red jungle fowl is the main progenitor of the domesticated chicken.     

Genetic diversity of Guangxi chicken breeds assessed with microsatellites and the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region

The domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is an excellent model for genetic studies of phenotypic diversity. The Guangxi Region of China possesses several native chicken breeds displaying a broad range of phenotypes well adapted to the extreme hot-and-wet environments in the region. We thus evaluated the genetic diversity and relationships among six native chicken populations of the Guangxi region and also evaluated two commercial breeds (Arbor Acres and Roman chickens). We analyzed the sequences of the D-loop region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and 18 microsatellite loci of 280 blood samples from six Guangxi native chicken breeds and from Arbor Acres and Roman chickens, and used the neighbor-joining method to construct the phylogenetic tree of these eight breeds. Our results showed that the genetic diversity of Guangxi native breeds was relatively rich. The phylogenetic tree using the unweighed pair-group method with arithmetic means (UPGAM) on microsatellite marks revealed two main clusters. Arbor Acres chicken and Roman chicken were in one cluster, while the Guangxi breeds were in the other cluster. Moreover, the UPGAM tree of Guangxi native breeds based on microsatellite loci was more consistent with the genesis, breeding history, differentiation and location than the mtDNA D-loop region. STRUCTURE analysis further confirmed the genetic structure of Guangxi native breeds in the Neighbor-Net dendrogram. The nomenclature of mtDNA sequence polymorphisms suggests that the Guangxi native chickens are distributed across four clades, but most of them are clustered in two main clades (B and E), with the other haplotypes within the clades A and C. The Guangxi native breeds revealed abundant genetic diversity not only on microsatellite loci but also on mtDNA D-loop region, and contained multiple maternal lineages, including one from China and another from Europe or the Middle East.     

Genetic characterization of Bhutanese native chickens based on an analysis of Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus gallus and Gallus gallus spadecieus), domestic Southeast Asian and commercial chicken lines (Gallus gallus domesticus)

The genetic diversity of Bhutanese chickens needs to be understood in order to develop a suitable conservation strategy for these birds in Bhutan. In this, work, we used microsatellite markers to examine the genetic diversity of Bhutanese chickens. Four Bhutanese chicken varieties (Black plumage, Frizzle, Naked neck and Red Junglefowl-like, corresponding to Yuebjha Narp, Phulom, Khuilay and Seim, respectively), two subspecies of Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus gallus and Gallus gallus spadecieus), two varieties of Thai native chickens (Pradhu Hang Dam and Chee; Gallus gallus domesticus) representing the Southeast Asian domestic chicken, and two commercial lines (Broiler and Single Comb White Leghorn) were genotyped with 18 microsatellites that included 16 loci recommended by the FAO/ISAG for investigations of genetic variability in chickens. All loci were polymorphic, with the number of alleles ranging from six (MCW0111) to 23 (MCW0183). Substantial genetic variation was observed in all populations, with the Bhutanese native chicken Yuebjha Narp (Black plumage chicken) showing the lowest genetic variability. Despite extensive intrapopulation variation, the genetic differentiation among 10 populations was moderate. A neighbor-joining tree revealed the genetic relationships involved while principal component analysis showed that Bhutanese native chickens should be given priority in conservation efforts because of their genetic distinctiveness. Chee chickens are especially valuable as a reservoir of predomestic diversity, as indicated by their greater genetic variation and their position in the phylogenetic tree.     

Global diversity and genetic contributions of chicken populations from African,Asian and European regions

Genetic diversity and population structure of 113 chicken populations from Africa, Asia and Europe were studied using 29 microsatellite markers. Among these, three populations of wild chickens and nine commercial purebreds were used as reference populations for comparison. Compared to commercial lines and chickens sampled from the European region, high mean numbers of alleles and a high degree of heterozygosity were found in Asian and African chickens as well as in Red Junglefowl. Population differentiation (F_ST) was higher among European breeds and commercial lines than among African, Asian and Red Junglefowl populations. Neighbour‐Net genetic clustering and structure analysis revealed two main groups of Asian and north‐west European breeds, whereas African populations overlap with other breeds from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region. Broilers and brown egg layers were situated between the Asian and north‐west European clusters. structure analysis confirmed a lower degree of population stratification in African and Asian chickens than in European breeds. High genetic differentiation and low genetic contributions to global diversity have been observed for single European breeds. Populations with low genetic variability have also shown a low genetic contribution to a core set of diversity in attaining maximum genetic variation present from the total populations. This may indicate that conservation measures in Europe should pay special attention to preserving as many single chicken breeds as possible to maintain maximum genetic diversity given that higher genetic variations come from differentiation between breeds.     

Genetic diversity within chicken populations from different continents and management histories

Intra-population variation was assessed in 1970 chickens from 64 populations using 29 autosomal microsatellites. On average, 95% of the loci were polymorphic across populations. In 1456 ( c. 83%) of the 1763 combinations of populations and polymorphic loci, no departure from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was observed. On average, there were 11.4 alleles per locus and 3.6 alleles per population across loci. Within populations, the average observed heterozygote frequency was 0.46, with a range between 0.20 and 0.64. Dagu, a Chinese population, and the Red Jungle Fowl ( Gallus gallus gallus ) had the highest average heterozygote frequencies at 0.64 and 0.63 respectively. An inbred line used as a reference population for comparison showed the lowest average of observed heterozygote frequency (0.05), followed by the European population Hamburger Lackhuhn, whose average observed heterozygote frequency was 0.20. A total of 32 private alleles (alleles detected in only one population) for 20 loci were found in 18 populations. H'mong chickens, a Vietnamese population, carried the largest number of private alleles at five, followed by the Red Jungle Fowl with four private alleles. Genetic diversity within populations was low in the NW European fancy breeds and high in the non-commercial Asian populations, in agreement with population management history.     

Analysis of genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese yak breeds （Bos grunniens） using microsatellite markers

Nine Chinese yak breeds (Maiwa,Tianzhu White,Qinghai Plateau,Sibu,Zhongdian,Pall,Tibetan High Mountain,Jiulong,and Xin-jiang) and Gayal were analyzed by means of 16 microsatellite markers to determine the level of genetic variation within populations,genetic relationship between populations,and population structure for each breed.A total of 206 microsatellite alleles were observed.Mean F-statistics (0.056) for 9 yak breeds indicated that 94.4% of the genetic variation was observed within yak breeds and 5.6% of the genetic variation existed amongst breeds.The Neighbor-Joining phylogenetic free was constructed based on Nei's standard genetic dis-tances and two clusters were obtained.The Gayal separated from the yaks far away and formed one cluster and 9 yak breeds were grouped together.The analysis of population structure for 9 yak breeds and the Gayal showed that they resulted in four clusters; one clus-ter includes yaks from Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province,one cluster combines Zhongdian,Maiwa,and Tianzhu White,and Jiulong and Xinjiang come into the third cluster.Pali was mainly in the first cluster (90%),Jiulong was mainly in the second cluster (87.1%),Zhongdian was primarily in the third cluster (83%),and the other yak breeds were distributed in two to three clusters.The Gayal was positively left in the fourth cluster (99.3%).     

江西省主要地方鸡种的RAPD分析及其群体遗传关系的研究

采用RAPD技术分析了南城黑鸡、余干五黑鸡、泰和乌骨鸡、东乡绿壳蛋鸡、崇仁麻鸡、宁都三黄鸡、广丰白耳黄鸡和万载康乐黄鸡等8个江西地方鸡种、1个培育鸡种--景德黄鸡以及1个外来鸡种--以色列隐性白羽鸡基因组池DNA的多态性,经OPERONA,B,C,D,G5组100种随机引物扩增筛选,14种引物获得了33个多态标记.各品种间的遗传距离指数的计算结果和UPGMA聚类关系图表明:在10个鸡种间,南城黑鸡和余干五黑鸡的遗传距离最近,两者有着极密切的亲缘关系.据此认为这两个鸡群可视为同一品种的两个地方系.此外,广丰白耳黄鸡和景德黄鸡也表现出较密切的亲缘关系,这与景德黄鸡在培育过程中曾掺有白耳黄鸡血缘的选育历史相吻合。 Abstract:Random amphfied polymorphic DNAs (RAPD) analysis was explored to investigate genetic polymorphisms of pooled genomic DNA from 8 native and 1 cultivated chicken breeds in Jiangxi province as well as 1 exotic chicken breed,which include Guangfeng baier huang,Jingde huang,Yugan wuhei,Nancheng hei,Congren ma,Taihe Silky Fowl,Ningdu san huang,Dongxiang green-shell,Wanzai kangle huang and Israel Recessive White Feather Fowl.of 100 OPERON random primers screened,14 primers produced 34 polymorphic RAPD markers.The genetic distance index and UPGMA dendrogram indicated that Nancheng hei and Yugan wuhei chickens had very closely genetic relationship,the genetic distance between the two populations was closer than any other pair of breeds.Therefore,the two chicken populations were suggested to be classified into one breed.In addition,Guangfeng baier huang and Jingde huang shown intimately relationship,it was consistent with the cultivation history of Jingde huang chicken breed,in which Guangfeng baier huang was introduced as one of parental breed.     

应用微卫星标记分析中国地方鸡种的遗传变异

利用 8个微卫星位点对中国 9个地方鸡种和 1个引进品种进行了遗传检测。计算出了各品种的平均杂合度、平均多态信息含量 (PIC)及品种间的遗传距离 ,并进行了系统聚类。结果表明 :8个微卫星位点上共检测到了5 4个等位基因 ,每个位点上平均为 6 .75个。各位点平均多态信息含量为 0 .5 0 71～ 0 .74 34,均表现出了高度多态性。各群体平均杂合度较高 ,为 0 .5 5 6 4～ 0 .7135 ,说明我国地方鸡种有着较丰富的遗传多样性。地方鸡种间的遗传距离相对较远 ,10个鸡种共分为三大类。研究结果对我国鸡种资源的评估、保存和预测杂种优势具有一定的指导意义     

我国地方鸡品种保种群微卫星多态性分析与分子标记档案的建立

利用20个微卫星标记对国家家禽品种资源基因库中保存的11个地方鸡品种保种群进行了遗传检测,计算各群体的等位基因频率、平均基因杂合度、平均多态信息含量及各群体间的遗传距离,并用类平均法进行聚类分析。研究结果表明：20个微卫星标记在11个地方鸡品种保种群共检测到176个等位基因,平均为8.8个,基因频率分布在0.013～0.838之间。检测到等位基因中,有45个等位基因为11个地方鸡品种所共有;11个地方鸡品种平均杂合度在0.6800～0.7432之间。其中藏鸡最高,为0.7432;狼山鸡最低,为0.6800;平均多态信息含量在0.6329～0.7023之间,均大于0.5,表现为高度多态性;11 个鸡品种聚为4类。丝羽乌骨鸡、茶花鸡、仙居鸡、藏鸡、萧山鸡聚为一类,鹿苑鸡、狼山鸡聚为一类,固始鸡、北京油鸡、大骨鸡聚为一类,河南斗鸡单独聚为一类;通过利用20个微卫星基因座检测不同世代群体中等位基因及其频率、群体基因平均杂合度和多态信息含量,建立地方鸡品种保种群微卫星标记档案,并分析世代间的差异,预期可以达到监测保种效果的目的。     

Genetic diversity among chicken breeds estimated through randomly amplified polymorphic DNA.

The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to detect polymorphism among five breeds of chicken i.e. White Leghorn and Rhodes Island Red (selected for part period egg production and egg mass respectively), Red Cornish and White Plymouth Rock (selected for early body weights) and Kadaknath (native breed). Twelve of the fifty random primers screened yielded distinct polymorphic RAPD profiles. Of the total 96 fragments amplified, about 25% showed polymorphism. Using the RAPD data matrix, the within population and between population genetic similarity was estimated. The selected improved breeds showed higher within population genetic similarity in comparison to the native breed. The two meat type breeds showed a high level of genetic similarity between themselves. The White Leghorn breed showed a low genetic similarity with other breeds. The native breed showed highest similarity with Rhodes Island Red. The dendogram was constructed to show phylogenetic relationship among these breeds. As expected, the genetic distances were lowest within similar type breeds and were highest between dissimilar type breeds. The results indicated the effectiveness of RAPD in detecting polymorphism between chicken populations and their applicability in population studies and establishing genetic relationships among the chicken populations.     

利用线粒体COI基因揭示中国乌骨鸡遗传多样性和群体遗传结构

全面了解中国乌骨鸡的遗传背景有利于保护和开发利用其种质资源。本研究测定了中国12个乌骨鸡品种线粒体细胞色素c氧化酶亚基I (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, COI)基因, 比较分析其遗传多样性和群体遗传结构。255份乌骨鸡样品共检测到22个变异位点, 占分析位点的3.17%; 核苷酸多样性为0.00142-0.00339, 单倍型多样性为0.380-0.757, 其中略阳乌鸡核苷酸多样性最高, 德化黑鸡最低。检测到7个氨基酸变异位点, 来自6个品种共11个个体。定义了24种单倍型, 其中单倍型H1和H3为12个乌骨鸡品种共享, 出现频率分别为115次和64次; 盐津乌骨鸡单倍型数最多, 广西乌鸡最少。中性检验与错配分析显示实验种群未经历显著的群体扩张事件。分子变异分析显示81.06%的变异来自群体内; 品种间遗传距离为0.002-0.004, 品种间遗传分化系数F_st值为-0.035至0.594, 雪峰乌骨鸡与其他种群间的遗传分化程度最高。邻接树显示, 乌骨鸡未能独立形成分支, 不能从家鸡和红原鸡中有效区分开来。中国乌骨鸡中介网络图将24个单倍型分为3条进化主支, 呈现出一定的品种特异性, 由无量山乌骨鸡、云南盐津乌骨鸡和雪峰乌骨鸡组成单倍型H8、H9、H11、H12游离于这3条进化主支之外。增加其他家鸡和红原鸡COI基因的中介网络图主体结构与中国乌骨鸡的相同。结果表明中国乌骨鸡品种遗传多样性较低, 但品种间遗传分化显著, 可能是从当地家鸡中选育而来, 需要加强种质资源的保护。     

Genetic profile of the locally developed Meatmaster sheep breed in South Africa based on microsatellite analysis

This report is on the development and genetic distinctiveness of the Meatmaster, a locally developed South African composite sheep breed. Genotypes of 175 Meatmaster sheep were compared to genotypes of 242 individuals from six putative parent breeds and an outgroup. All comparisons were based on 10 microsatellite loci. No significant breed-specific alleles were found for the Meatmaster or most of the parental breeds. Nevertheless, a Bayesian-based assignment test placed 69.4% of Meatmaster individuals in clusters distinct from the well-defined breed-specific clusters of the parent breeds. Population differentiation from R_ST values showed low differentiation among the four Meatmaster populations (0.004–0.028), higher values for pair-wise combinations of Meatmaster populations and the parent breeds (0.051–0.194), and the highest values among Meatmaster populations and the outgroup: Namakwa Afrikaner (0.237–0.301). Clustering in a dendrogram placed all Meatmaster populations in distinct clusters with strong bootstrap support (97%). Trends from a hierarchical analysis of total variation confirmed some distinctiveness in the Meatmaster, with 2.315% of total variation found among Meatmaster populations compared to 11.455% among breeds. High levels of heterozygosity and numbers of alleles in Meatmaster populations indicated good retention of genetic diversity during the potential bottleneck created by selection in its early history. Results are discussed with reference to genetic distinctiveness in this developing breed, the genetic contribution of the Damara as a common ancestor, conservation of genetic diversity and an application for future genetic management for the Meatmaster breed.     

Genetic diversity and differentiation of 12 eastern Adriatic and western Dinaric native sheep breeds using microsatellites

Nuclear genetic diversity and differentiation of 341 sheep belonging to 12 sheep breeds from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were examined. The aim of the study was to provide the understanding of the genetic structure and variability of the analysed pramenka sheep populations, and to give indications for conservation strategies based on the population diversity and structure information. The genetic variation of the sheep populations, examined at the nuclear level using 27 microsatellite loci, revealed considerable levels of genetic diversity, similar to the diversity found in other European indigenous low-production sheep breeds. Population-specific alleles were detected at most loci and in breeds analysed. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.643 (in Lika pramenka) to 0.743 (in Vlasic pramenka), and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.646 (in Lika pramenka) to 0.756 (in Dalmatian pramenka). Significant inbreeding coefficients were found for half of the populations studied and ranged from 0.040 (Pag island sheep) to 0.091 (Kupres pramenka). Moderate genetic differentiation was found between the studied sheep populations. The total genetic variability observed between different populations was 5.29%, whereas 94.71% of the variation was found within populations. Cres island sheep, Lika pramenka and Istrian sheep were identified as the most distinct populations, which was confirmed by the factorial analysis of correspondence and supported through a bootstrapping adjustment to correct for the difference in the sample sizes. The population structure analysis distinguished 12 clusters for the 12 sheep breeds analysed. However, the cluster differentiation was low for Dalmatian, Vlasic, Stolac and Krk pramenka. This systematic study identified Lika pramenka and Rab island sheep as those with the lowest diversity, whereas Istrian sheep and Pag island sheep had the highest. Conservation actions are proposed for Istrian, Rab and Cres island sheep, Lika and Kupres pramenka because of high estimated coefficients of inbreeding.     

Evaluation of genetic diversity in Chinese indigenous chicken breeds using microsatellite markers

China is rich in chicken genetic resources, and many indigenous breeds can be found throughout the country. Due to poor productive ability, some of them are threatened by the commercial varieties from domestic and foreign breeding companies. In a large-scale investigation into the current status of Chinese poultry genetic resources, 78 indigenous chicken breeds were surveyed and their blood samples collected. The genomes of these chickens were screened using microsatellite analysis. A total of 2740 individuals were genotyped for 27 microsatellite markers on 13 chromosomes. The number of alleles of the 27 markers ranged from 6 to 51 per locus with a mean of 18.74. Heterozygosity (H) values of the 78 chicken breeds were all more than 0.5. The average H value (0.622) and polymorphism information content (PIC, 0.573) of these breeds suggested that the Chinese indigenous chickens possessed more genetic diversity than that reported in many other countries. The fixation coefficients of subpopulations within the total population (F _ST) for the 27 loci varied from 0.065 (LEI0166) to 0.209 (MCW0078), with a mean of 0.106. For all detected microsatellite loci, only one (LEI0194) deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) across all the populations. As genetic drift or non-random mating can occur in small populations, breeds kept on conservation farms such as Langshan chicken generally had lower H values, while those kept on large populations within conservation regions possessed higher polymorphisms. The high genetic diversity in Chinese indigenous breeds is in agreement with great phenotypic variation of these breeds. Using Nei’s genetic distance and the Neighbor-Joining method, the indigenous Chinese chickens were classified into six categories that were generally consistent with their geographic distributions. The molecular information of genetic diversity will play an important role in conservation, supervision, and utilization of the chicken resources.     

Evaluation of genetic diversity in Chinese indigenous chicken breeds using microsatellite markers

China is regarded as one of the domestication cen-ters for chickens and archaeological studies provided evidence of chicken domestication in northern Chinaas early as 6000 BC[1]. At present, China has the larg-est chicken population in the world, represen…     

Genetic diversity in nine native Turkish sheep breeds based on microsatellite analysis

The genetic variability of 204 sheep from nine breeds (Awassi, Çine Çapar?, Karaka?, Karya, Karayaka, Morkaraman, Norduz, Sak?z and Tuj) growing in four different regions (western, northern, eastern and south‐eastern Anatolia) was assessed using 18 microsatellite loci. High mean number of alleles, allelic richness and factorial correspondence analysis showed the degree of admixture between native sheep breeds of Turkey. The Karya and Çine Çapar? breeds were observed as the most distinct of the breeds, and possible introgressions were detected in other breeds. It was found that 8.9% of genetic variation resulted from the difference between the populations. The genetic variation in Turkish breeds was not much higher than that of European breeds, which might be a consequence of the recent sharp decrease in sheep numbers.     

Genetic characterization of biodiversity in highly inbred chicken lines by microsatellite markers

Forty-two microsatellite loci were analysed in 23 highly inbred chicken lines derived from Leghorn, Jungle Fowl, Fayoumi and Spanish breeds. Line-specific alleles among breeds and lines were detected. The band-sharing (BS) values were calculated and the proportion of shared alleles distances (Dps) were estimated. The BS values and Dps between sets of MHC-congenic lines ranged from 0.74 to 0.96, and 0.05-0.35, respectively. The BS values between each pair of noncongenic Leghorn lines were 0.32-0.97, and between Leghorn and exotic (Jungle Fowl, Fayoumi and Spanish) breeds were 0.03-0.55. The Dps between Fayoumi lines and other lines were much larger (0.66-1.34) than within Leghorns, and the Jungle Fowl breed had the largest distances with other lines (1.12-5.38). The phylogenetic consensus tree that was constructed grouped these 23 inbred chicken lines into four different clusters. These results are in accordance with the origin and breeding history of these inbred lines, which indicates that the use of microsatellites for the study of genetic biodiversity is accurate and reliable. In addition, the significance and value of inbred chicken lines in molecular genetic research is discussed.