STR-based genetic appraisal in two distinct chicken breeds with contrasting-breeding regimen

The present study was conducted to evaluate intra and inter-breed genetic variation between two diverse chicken populations: Kadaknath (KN) and White Leghorn (WLH) at molecular level, using fifteen polymorphic microsatellites markers, representing different chromosomal regions of chicken genome. These breeds possess contrasting breeding histories through their propagation for 30 generations at CARI, India, where in, the former remained under ex-situ conservation and the latter underwent long-term selection for high egg production. Molecular analysis revealed distinctly-different population parameters for genetic diversity i.e. PIC, Na, Ne, Nei's index, Ho, He and Shannon's index (I), showing significantly-higher values for KN as opposed to WLH, while the WLH recorded higher Fstatistics (F_IS, F_ST and F_IT) estimates than those of KN. Intra-breed variability assessed through un-rooted dendrograms generated for these populations via neighbor-joining algorithm exhibited distinctly-different dispersal patterns by higher inter-sample divergence in KN compared to WLH. It was inferred that variability of WLH apparently eroded over generations due to operational evolutionary-force (selection) while KN appeared to retain more heterozygosity consistent to its breeding history.