title: On the origins and genetic diversity of South American chickens: one step closer.
abstract: Local chicken populations are a major source of food in the rural areas of South America. However, very little is known about their genetic composition and diversity. Here, we analyzed five populations from South America to investigate their maternal genetic origin and diversity, hoping to mitigate the lack of information on local chicken populations from this region. We also included three populations of chicken from the Iberian Peninsula and one from Easter Island, which are potential sources of the first chickens introduced in South America. The obtained sequencing data from South American chickens indicate the presence of four haplogroups (A, B, E and D) that can be further subdivided into nine sub-haplogroups. Of these, four (B1, D1a, E1a(b), E1b) were absent from local Iberian Peninsula chickens and one (D1a) was present only on Easter Island. The presence of the sub-haplogroups A1a(b) and E1a(b) in South America, previously only observed in Eastern Asia, and the significant population differentiation between Iberian Peninsula and South American populations, suggest a second maternal source of the extant genetic pool in South American chickens.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO-InBIO), Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luzuriaga-Neira
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Pio Jaramillo Alvarado s/n sector La Argelia, 1101, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Villacís-Rivas
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional de Loja, Pio Jaramillo Alvarado s/n sector La Argelia, 1101, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cueva-Castillo
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Loja, Pio Jaramillo Alvarado s/n sector La Argelia, 1101, Loja, Ecuador.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Escudero-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Mendez 595, Chillán, Chile.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulloa-Nuñez
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Vicente Mendez 595, Chillán, Chile.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rubilar-Quezada
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO-InBIO), Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO-InBIO), Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.|Department of Biology, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre S/N, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1607-7382
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beja-Pereira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005788:Gene Pool; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013020:South America
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: 
  Gallus gallus
  ; gene pool; local breeds; mtDNA