Bioscience Evidence 2025, Vol.15, No.5, 209-218 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 209 Observation Analysis Open Access Evolutionary Traits in Domestic and Wild Chickens Through Phylogenetic Markers Qiqi Zhou, Shiqiang Huang Tropical Animal Medicine Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572000, Hainan, China Corresponding email: shiqiang.huang@hitar.org Bioscience Evidence, 2025, Vol.15, No.5 doi: 10.5376/be.2025.15.0021 Received: 18 Jul., 2025 Accepted: 23 Aug., 2025 Published: 08 Sep., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Zhou and Huang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Zhou Q.Q., and Huang S.Q., 2025, Evolutionary traits in domestic and wild chickens through phylogenetic markers, Bioscience Evidence, 15(5): 209-218 (doi: 10.5376/be.2025.15.0021) Abstract This study mainly aims to analyze the evolutionary differences between chickens and wild chickens. We focus on the morphological, physiological, behavioral and genetic changes during the domestication process. Some commonly used tools in research include whole-genome SNPS, mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites, etc. These can help us observe the differentiation and gene exchange between domestic chickens and wild free-range chickens. It was found that domestic chickens exhibited distinct domesticated characteristics in terms of body size, feather color, breeding season, metabolism and response to humans. These changes are closely related to some key genes, such as TSHR, BCO2 and IGF1. In addition, the genes of domestic chickens are also mixed with components from other wild species such as the grey pheasant, making their genetic background more diverse. Phylogenetic analysis also indicates that the domestication and spread of domestic chickens were not accomplished in one go, but rather involved multiple origins and complex gene exchanges, which is why there are significant differences among domestic chicken breeds in different regions. The purpose of this review is to better understand the mechanism and genetic basis of domestic chicken domestication, and also to provide some references for poultry breeding and conservation. Keywords Domestication of domestic chickens; Phylogenetic markers; Evolutionary traits; Genomic selection; Genetic diversity 1 Introduction Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are among the most widely raised domestic fowls in the world. Its origin and evolution have always been the focus of research in animal genetics and domestic animal domestication. It is generally believed that domestic chickens mainly come from the free-range chickens (Gallus gallus) in Southeast Asia. However, recent molecular studies have also found that other wild species such as the grey grouse (Gallus sonneratii) and the Ceylon grouse (G. lafayettii) also have an impact on the genetic diversity of domestic chickens. This indicates that domestic chickens are not of a single origin but have undergone multiple domestications and complex gene exchanges (Liu et al., 2006; Yw et al., 2012; Lawal et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020; Zhao et al., 2024). Domestication has brought about significant changes in the body size, behavior and physiology of domestic chickens, and has profoundly altered their genomic structure and genetic diversity (Rubin et al., 2010; Qanbari et al., 2019; Piegu et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021). Common phylogenetic markers include mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), microsatellites (microsatellites), and nuclear DNA. These tools were used to study the evolutionary relationship and domestication history between domestic chickens and their wild relatives. Research on mtDNA has found that domestic chickens have multiple maternal origins, and domestic chicken populations in different regions have their own haplotype distributions (Liu et al., 2006; Yw et al., 2012; Huang et al., 2017; Boudali et al., 2020; Hata et al., 2021). SNPs and microsatellite markers can help analyze gene communication, selection signals and population structure, and also identify genes related to production and adaptation (Rubin et al., 2010; Lawal et al., 2019; Qanbari et al., 2019; Larkina et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2021; Zhao et al., 2024). Sequencing of nuclear DNA has revealed the dynamics of selection, bottleneck effect and genomic recombination during domestication (Sawai et al., 2010; Flink et al., 2014; Li et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2020; Piegu et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2023; Wu et al., 2023).
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