Title:
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Genomic control of Mendelian traits in fancy and village chicken
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Traditional chicken breeds exhibit a range of phenotypic diversity, which in
some cases is far removed from that of their jungle fowl ancestors. This
diversity includes plumage pattern and colouration, feather stlUcture, comb
morphology, egg colour, and numerous other behavioural and morphological
characteristics. Extensive research over the last century has identified that a
number of these phenotypic traits are inherited in a Mendelian fashion,
enabling them to be studied at the genetic level with relative ease. Typically,
the genetic mapping of these traits has required establishing resource mapping
populations through inter-crossing or back-crossing to select for the trait(s) of
interest. However, recent advances in technology have demonstrated that it is
possible to fine-map phenotypic traits by comparing the DNA of different
breeds. Through the contrasting of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
a range of breeds exhibiting the trait of interest, to breeds in which the trait is
absent, it is possible to take advantage of countless recombination events that
have taken place since the different breeds were established, enabling the trait
to be mapped at higher resolution than might be achieved through a resource
mapping population.
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