Genetics of adaptation in modern chicken.

We carried out whole genome resequencing of 127 chicken including red jungle fowl and multiple populations of commercial broilers and layers to perform a systematic screening of adaptive changes in modern chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). We uncovered >21 million high quality SNPs of which 34% are newly detected variants. This panel comprises >115,000 predicted amino-acid altering substitutions as well as 1,100 SNPs predicted to be stop-gain or -loss, several of which reach high frequencies.

Parallel Selection Revealed by Population Sequencing in Chicken.

Human-driven selection during domestication and subsequent breed formation has likely left detectable signatures within the genome of modern chicken. The elucidation of these signatures of selection is of interest from the perspective of evolutionary biology, and for identifying genes relevant to domestication and improvement that ultimately may help to further genetically improve this economically important animal. We used whole genome sequence data from 50 hens of commercial white (WL) and brown (BL) egg-laying chicken along with pool sequences of three meat-type chicken to perform a systematic screening of past selection in modern chicken.