Jordan indigenous chickens (JIC) are threatened with extinction since they are crossed with exotic chickens to enhance their low levels of production. The study objective was to investigate the origin, biodiversity, and phylogeographic structure of JIC using mtDNA sequencing in reference to exotic chickens. We sampled 483 males and females by taking a blood spot on an FTA card. We also sampled ancient, commercial, and fancy chickens from Jordan as references. The sampling regions were the main cities and rural areas of the Middle, North and South governorates of Jordan. The extracted DNA from blood samples was sequenced for the mtDNA D-loop region. The results showed that most of the genetic diversity occurred within JIC rather than between populations. The highest expected heterozygosity was for JIC (0.666), whereas the lowest was for Cochin (0.503) chickens. In addition, the coefficients of differentiation (Fst) ranged from the lowest (0.271) between indigenous and Cochin (fancy) chickens to the highest (0.104) between Pharaonic chickens and Lamborghini. Particularly, a UPGMA-based evolutionary analysis showed high differentiation between JIC and the ancient chickens, indicating a lack of close phylogeographic relationship. This study provides maternal genetic evidence that the primary origin of JICs is linked to Indian chickens because they possess haplotypes of Asian and African origin, with additional groups indicating past and recent crossbreeding with exotic and commercial breeds... Finally, it is recommended to establish a genetic conservation program for JIC for their current-day diversity, to ensure better resilience to the current global warming hitting Jordan in recent years.
Raed Mahmoud Al-Atiyat (Wed,) studied this question.