A Global Survey of SNP Marker Studies in Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus): A Bibliometric Approach

This study reviewed the scientific literature on the application of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), aiming to assess research trends, contributing countries, and the most investigated genes in poultry genetics. The bibliometrix package in R was used to dig through data from Web of Science and Scopus, covering the period ranging from 2008-2024. After cleaning out the duplicates, 1,668 articles remained. Since 2008, the numbers kept climbing, peaking in 2024 with 137 papers, which amounts to an average of 87 per year. The US, South Korea, and China were the largest three country origins in terms of output, with China alone producing 723 studies. Countries like Brazil were also important sources, which hints at there still being significant room for global collaboration in this field. The most frequent keywords were “growth” and “egg production,” underscoring a predominant research focus on productive and reproductive traits. The most cited genes were GH, IGF, PRL, MHC, CORT, MCR1, and VIP, which relate to growth, egg production, and disease resistance. Our data expand the body of SNP-based research in poultry science, while also highlighting the potential of those markers for use in breeding programs that aim at increasing productivity and sustainability.