Assessment of genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of Korean native chicken breeds using microsatellite markers.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to investigate the basic information on genetic structure and characteristics of Korean Native chickens (NC) and foreign breeds through the analysis of the pure chicken populations and commercial chicken lines of the Hanhyup Company which are popular in the NC market, using the 20 microsatellite markers.


METHODS
In this study, the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of 445 NC from five different breeds (NC, Leghorn [LH], Cornish [CS], Rhode Island Red [RIR], and Hanhyup [HH] commercial line) were investigated by performing genotyping using 20 microsatellite markers.


RESULTS
The highest genetic distance was observed between RIR and LH (18.9%), whereas the lowest genetic distance was observed between HH and NC (2.7%). In the principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) illustrated by the first component, LH was clearly separated from the other groups. The correspondence analysis showed close relationship among individuals belonging to the NC, CS, and HH lines. From the STRUCTURE program, the presence of 5 clusters was detected and it was found that the proportion of membership in the different clusters was almost comparable among the breeds with the exception of one breed (HH), although it was highest in LH (0.987) and lowest in CS (0.578). For the cluster 1 it was high in HH (0.582) and in CS (0.368), while for the cluster 4 it was relatively higher in HH (0.392) than other breeds.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed useful genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship data that can be utilized for NC breeding and development by the commercial chicken industry to meet consumer demands.
Genomic Informatics Center, Hankyong National University, Anseong 456-749, Korea.|Department of Genomic Informatics, Graduate School of Future Convergence Technology, Hankyong National University, Anseong 456-749, Korea.
Joo Hee
JH
Seo
Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Chunam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea.
Jun Heon
JH
Lee
Genomic Informatics Center, Hankyong National University, Anseong 456-749, Korea.
Hong Sik
HS
Kong
Genetic Diversity; Korean Native Chicken; Microsatellite Marker; Phylogenetic Relationships; Polymorphism