Iranian chicken genetic resources are characterized by a long history and a vast diversity. This study represents the first results from the selection and evaluation of five polymorphic microsatellite markers for the genetic assessment of five native chicken populations located in the northwestern (West Azerbaijan), northern (Mazandaran), central (Isfahan, Yazd), and southern (Fars) provinces of Iran. The number of alleles ranged from three to six per microsatellite locus. All populations were characterized by a high degree of genetic diversity, with the lowest heterozygosity found in the Isfahan population (62%) and the greatest in the populations from West Azerbaijan and Mazandaran (79%). The largest Nei’s unbiased genetic distance was found between the Isfahan and Fars populations (0.696) and the smallest between the Mazandaran and Yazd populations (0.097). The Isfahan population was found to be the most genetically distant among all populations studied. These results serve as an initial step in the plan for genetic characterization and conservation of Iranian native chickens.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Aldrovandi, U. (1599–1603). Ornithologia hoc est de avibus historiae Libri XII, Bologna, Italy, Vol. II (1600).
Buchanan, F. C., Adams, L. J., Littlejohn, R. P., Maddox, J. F., and Crawford, A. M. (1994). Determination of evolutionary relationships among sheep breeds using microsatellites. Genomics 22:397–403.
Carter, G. F. (1971). Pre-Columbian chickens in America. In Riley, C. L., Kelley, J. C., Pennington, C. W., and Rands, R. L. (eds.), Man Across the Sea: Problems of Pre-Columbian Contacts, Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 78–218.
Cavender, N. D. (2001). Genetic variation of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and its association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; Implications for prairie restoration and reintroduction, PhD Thesis, Ohio State University, Columbus.
CENESTA (2003). Pastoral life in Iran—a changing landscape. Seedling, Jan. 2003, Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN), Barcelona, pp. 17–21.
Crawford, R. D. (1995). Origin, history, and distribution of commercial poultry. In Hunton, P. (ed.), Poultry Production, Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 1–20.
Crooijmans, R. P. M. A., van Oers, P. A. M., Strijk, J. A., van der Poel, J. J., and Groenen, M. A. M. (1996a). Preliminary linkage map of the chicken (Gallus domesticus) genome based on microsatellite markers: 77 new markers mapped. Poult. Sci. 75:746–752.
Crooijmans, R. P. M. A., Groen, A. B. F., van Kampen, A. J. A., van der Beek, S., van der Poel, J. J., and Groenen, M. A. M. (1996b). Microsatellite polymorphism in commercial broiler and layer lines estimated using pooled blood samples. Poult. Sci. 75:904–909.
Dehghanzadeh, H. (2001). Studying Genetic Diversity in Five Iranian Native Chicken Populations Using RAPD Markers, MSc thesis, University of Gilan, Rasht, Iran (in Persian).
Dhalla, M. N. (1922). Zoroastrian Civilisation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
eFeedLink (2004). Iran’s per capita chicken consumption edges closer to European standards. eFeedLink, Nov. 8, 2004. http://www.efeedlink.com/.
Esmaeilkhanian, S., and Horn, P. (2000). Genetic polymorphisms in Iranian native poultry breeds I: Blood groups and allele frequencies. Acta Agric. Kapos. 4:11–14.
Esmaeilkhanian, S., Yeganeh, A. T., Osfori, R., and Horn, P. (2000a). Genetic polymorphisms in Iranian native poultry breeds II: Isoenzyme polymorphisms with special reference to alkaline phosphotase and esterase. Acta Agric. Kapos. 4:15–20.
Esmaeilkhanian, S., Mirhady, S. A., Osfori, R., and Horn, P. (2000b). Genetic polymorphisms in Iranian native poultry breeds III: Albumin and transferrin polymorphisms. Acta Agric. Kapos. 4:21–26.
Esmaeilkhanian, S., Osfori, R., Kamali, M. A., and Horn, P. (2004). Genetic variation among native chicken breeds of Iran based on biochemical polymorphisms. Br. Poult. Sci. 45:598–603.
Excoffier, L., Smouse, P. E., and Quattro, J. M. (1992). Analysis of molecular variance inferred from metric distances among DNA haplotypes: Application to human mitochondrial DNA restriction data. Genetics 131:479–491.
FAOSTAT (2005). FAOSTAT Database Collections. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Felsenstein, J. (2001). PHYLIP (Phylogeny Inference Package). Version 3.6 (alpha 2), distributed by the author, Department of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle.
Finsterbusch, C. A. (1929). Cock Fighting All over the World, Grit and Steel, Gaffney, SC.
Groen, A. F., Crooijmans, R. P. M. A., van Kampen, A. J. A., van der Beek, S., van der Poel, J. J., and Groenen, M. A. M. (1994). Microsatellite polymorphism in commercial broiler and layer lines. In 5th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, University of Guelph, Canada, Vol. 21, pp. 94–97.
Gustafson, D. J., Gibson, D. J., and Nickrent, D. L. (1999). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) variation among remnant big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) populations from Arkansas’ Grand Prairie. Mol. Ecol. 8:1693–1701.
Huff, D., Peakall, R., and Smouse, P. (1993). RAPD variation within and among natural populations of outcrossing buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.]. Theor. Appl. Genet. 86:927–934.
Huff, D., Quinn, J., Higgins, B., and Palazzo, A. (1998). Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) variation among native little bluestem [Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash] populations from sites of high and low fertility in forest and grassland biomes. Mol. Ecol. 7:1591–1597.
Info Poultry Institute (2005). About Iranian poultry industry: A glance at Iranian poultry industry. Poultry Links, Iranian Poultry Web Directory, Telavang Group. http://www. poultrylinks.com/industry/index.asp.
Ivanov, M. F. (1924). Poultry Breeds, Ekonomicheskaya zhizn, Moscow (in Russian).
Kamali, M. A. (2005a). DAD-Net: Contribution from Iran, re.: Question Concerning National Policy on Access to Gene Banks, Country Report to FAO DAD-IS Network, circulated by email on Aug. 4, 2005 from kamali110@yahoo.com.
Kamali, M. A. (2005b). DAD-Net: Please Contribute Descriptions of Country Actions Following Country Report! — from Iran, Country Report to FAO DAD-IS Network, circulated by email on Dec. 6, 2005 from kamali110@yahoo.com.
Koffler, B. (1998–1999). Rumpless fowl. FeatherSite— The Poultry Page. http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Rump/BRKRumpless.html.
MacHugh, D. E., Loftus, R. T., Bradley, D. G., Sharp, P. M., and Cunningham, P. (1994). Microsatellite DNA variation within and among European cattle breeds. Proc. Biol. Sci. 256:25–31.
Miller, S. A., Dykes, D. D., and Polesky, H. F. (1988). A simple salting out procedure for extracting DNA from human nucleated cells. Nucleic Acid Res. 16:1215.
Mirhosseini, S. Z., and Dehghanzadeh, H. (2003). Study on genetic diversity of Fars native chickens using RAPD markers. In 3rd Natl. Congr. Biotechnol., Mashhad, Iran, Vol. 4, pp. 387–390 (in Persian).
Mirzaei, F., Yazdani, S., Gharahdaghi, A., and Mostafavi, S. M. (2005). The role of poultry meat export in dynamics of the develo** countries: Iran’s status in the Middle East region. In Agricic. Econ. Soc. 79th Annu. Conf., University of Nottingham, UK.
Moiseyeva, I. G. (1992). Native breeds of domestic fowl. In Zakharov, I. A. (ed.), Farm Animal Genetic Resources: Rare and Endangered Native Breeds, Nauka, Moscow, pp. 11–112 (in Russian).
Moiseyeva, I. G., Romanov, M. N., Nikiforov, A. A., Sevastyanova, A. A., and Semyenova, S. K. (2003). Evolutionary relationships of Red Jungle Fowl and chicken breeds. Genet. Sel. Evol. 35:403–423.
Nei, M. (1978). Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics 89:583–590.
Pallas, P. S. (1811). Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica, sistens omnium animalium in extenso imperio rossico et adjacentibus maribus observatorem recensionem, domicilia, mores et descriptiones anatomen atque icones plurimorum, Ex Officina Caes. Academiae Scientarum, Petropoli [St Petersburg], Vol. II, pp. 88–92.
Peters, J. P. (1913). The cock. J. Am. Orient. Soc. 33:363–396.
Ponsuksili, S., Wimmers, K., and Horst, P. (1996). Genetic variability in chickens using polymorphic microsatellite markers. Thai J. Agric. Sci. 29:571–580.
Poultry Industry in Iran (2004). Poult. Ind. News, 21 Jul. 2004. http://www.thepoultrysite. com/LatestNews/Default.asp?Display=6814.
Rahimi, G., Khanahmadi, A., Nejati-Javaremi, A., and Esmaeilkhanian, S. (2002). Estimation of genetic variability in Mazandaran native fowls using RAPD marker. In 28th Int. Conf. Anim. Genet. Göttingen—Germany. ISAG, Int. Soc. Anim. Genet. Proc., p. 120, Abstr. D111.
Romanov, M. N., and Weigend, S. (2001). Analysis of genetic relationships between various populations of domestic and jungle fowl using microsatellite markers. Poult. Sci. 80:1057–1063.
Romanov, M. N., Wężyk, S., Cywa-Benko, K., and Sakhatsky, N. I. (1996). Poultry genetic resources in the countries of Eastern Europe—history and current state. Poult. Avian Biol. Rev. 7:1–29.
Shariatmadari, F. (2000). Poultry production and the industry in Iran. Worlds Poult. Sci. J. 56:55–65.
Smith, P., and Daniel, C. (1975). The Chicken Book, Little, Brown and Co., Toronto.
Swofford, D. L., and Selander, R. B. (1989). BIOSYS-1, a Computer Program for the Analysis of Allelic Variation in Population Genetics and Biochemical Systematics. Release 1.7, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign.
Tautz, D. (1989). Hypervariability of simple sequences as a general source for polymorphic DNA markers. Nucleic Acids Res. 17:6463–6471.
Teplov, G. N. (1774). Poultry Yard, St Petersburg (in Russian).
Vanhala, T., Tuiskula-Haavisto, M., Elo, K., Vilkki, J., and Mäki-Tanila, A. A. (1998). Evaluation of genetic variability and genetic distances between eight chicken lines using microsatellite markers. Poult. Sci. 77:783–790.
Weir, B. S. (1996). Genetic Data Analysis II: Methods for Discrete Population Genetic Data, Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, MA.
Weir, B. S., and Cockerham, C. C. (1984). Estimating F-statistics for the analysis of population structure. Evolution 38:1358–1370.
West, B., and Zhou, B.-X. (1989). Did chicken go north? New evidence for domestication. Worlds Poult. Sci. J. 45:205–218.
Wikipedia. Chicken, Wikimedia Foundation Inc., St Petersburg, FL. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken.
Yeh, F. C., Yang, R.-C., Boyle, T. B. J., Ye, Z.-H., and Mao, J. X. (1999). POPGENE, the User-Friendly Shareware for Population Genetic Analysis. Version 1.31, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
Zhang, X., Leung, F. C., Chan, D. K. O., Chen, Y., and Wu, C. (2002). Comparative analysis of allozyme, random amplified polymorphic DNA, and microsatellite polymorphism on Chinese native chickens. Poult. Sci. 81:1093–1098.
Zhou, H., and Lamont, S. J. (1999). Genetic characterization of biodiversity in highly inbred chicken lines by microsatellite markers. Anim. Gen. 30:256–264.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the West Azerbaijan, Isfahan, Fars, Mazandaran, and Yazd research centers for animal science and native chicken resources for providing blood samples. Elio Corti, Irina G. Moiseyeva, and Leona G. Chemnick are acknowledged for reading the manuscript and furnishing valuable suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shahbazi, S., Mirhosseini, S.Z. & Romanov, M.N. Genetic Diversity in Five Iranian Native Chicken Populations Estimated by Microsatellite Markers. Biochem Genet 45, 63–75 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-006-9058-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10528-006-9058-6