Conclusion
Maintaining the genomic diversity of Chinese domestic chicken breeds is
important for economic and cultural reasons. We found that the smallex situ conserved populations that are maintained in controlled
environments retain less genetic diversity than populations conservedin situ. In addition, the transfer of conservation populations
from their place of origin to another site results in genetic
differentiation. This may be caused by genetic drift or adaptation.
Finally, we identified the “genomic conservation unit” for all three
chicken breeds and proposed that phylogenetic trees should be used to
select valuable indi18viduals for breeding within a conservation
program, based on breed-specific characteristics markers as well as
genome-wide markers. The results of
this study provide a basis for further optimization of conservation
programs for domestic chicken breeds in China.