title: Maternal Origin of Turkish and Iranian Native Chickens Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA D-loop Sequences.
abstract: To assess genetic diversity and maternal origin of Turkish and Iranian native chicken breeds, we analyzed the mtDNA D-loop sequences of 222 chickens from 2 Turkish (Denizli and Gerze) and 7 Iranian (White Marandi, Black Marandi, Naked Neck, Common Breed, Lari, West Azarbaijan, and New Hampshire) native chicken breeds, together with the available reference sequences ofG. gallus gallusin GenBank. The haplotype diversity was estimated as 0.24±0.01 and 0.36±0.02 for Turkish and Iranian populations, respectively. In total, 19 haplotypes were observed from 24 polymorphic sites in Turkish and Iranian native chicken populations. Two different clades or haplogroups (A and E) were found in Turkish and Iranian chickens. Clade A haplotypes were found only in White Marandi, Common Breed and New Hampshire populations. Clade E haplotypes, which are quite common, were observed in Turkish and Iranian populations with 18 different haplotypes, of which Turkish and Iranian chickens, Clade E, haplotype 1 (TRIRE1) was a major haplotype with the frequency of 81.5% (181/222) across all breeds. Compared to red jungle fowl, Turkish and Iranian chicken breeds are closely related to each other. These results suggest that Turkish and Iranian chickens originated from the same region, the Indian subcontinent. Our results will provide reliable basic information for mtDNA haplotypes of Turkish and Iranian chickens and for studying the origin of domestic chickens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07058, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meydan
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Islamic Azad University of Maragheh, Maragheh 11369, Iran.
authors.forename: Cafer Pish
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, Ankara 06100, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Yıldız
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute of Farm Animal Genetics, Mariensee, Neustadt D-31535, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weigend
keywords: Haplogroup; Iranian Native Chicken Breeds; Maternal Origin; Turkish Native Chicken Breeds; mtDNA D-loop