Phylogenetic analysis of Myanmar indigenous chickens using mitochondrial D‐loop sequence reveals their characteristics as a genetic resource

Myanmar indigenous chickens play important roles in food, entertainment, and farm business for the people of Myanmar. In this study, complete mitochondrial D‐loop sequences (1232 bp) were analyzed using 176 chickens, including three indigenous breeds, two fighting cock populations, and three indigenous populations to elucidate genetic diversity and accomplish a phylogenetic analysis of Myanmar indigenous chickens. The average haplotype and nucleotide diversities were 0.948 ± 0.009 and 0.00814 ± 0.00024, respectively, exhibiting high genetic diversity of Myanmar indigenous chickens. Sixty‐four haplotypes were classified as seven haplogroups, with the majority being haplogroup F. The breeds and populations except Inbinwa had multiple maternal haplogroups, suggesting that they experienced no recent purifying selection and bottleneck events. All breeds and populations examined shared haplogroup F. When 232 sequences belonging to haplogroup F (79 from Myanmar and 153 deposited sequences from other Asian countries/region) were analyzed together, the highest genetic diversity was observed in Myanmar indigenous chickens. Furthermore, Myanmar indigenous chickens and red junglefowls were observed in the center of the star‐like median‐joining network of 37 F‐haplotypes, suggesting that Myanmar is one of the origins of haplogroup F. These findings revealed the unique genetic characteristic of Myanmar indigenous chickens as important genetic resources.