Vol. 9, Special Issue 3 (2024)

Author(s): T Vasanthakumar, AS Selvaramesh and R Amutha

Abstract: The present study was the first report on Indigenous Peruvidai chicken ecotypes in Tamil Nadu state, India in order to untangle the genetic diversity of within Peruvidai chicken population. Six microsatellite loci recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) were used. Thirty birds were sampled from five different districts in western parts of Tamil Nadu. DNA was collected and PCR was carried out to amplify the target regions. Sequencing was carried out and the data were analyzed for genetic diversity indicators with Cervus 3.0.7 and GenAlEx 6.5 and Popgene software programmes. A total number of 112 alleles were detected with an average value of 3.7 alleles per locus. The Peruvidai chicken of Tiruppur and Dharmapuri districts were most distant with a Nei’s genetic distance value of 0.30 and Erode and Dharmapuri districts were least distant with a value of 0.165. Erode and Salem pair had Nei’s genetic identity value of 0.842, which is highest among all pairs of ecotypes. Mean Fixation indices’ (FST, FIS, and FIT) values were 0.092, 0.115 and 0.182, respectively, across all 20 loci investigated. The mean number of polymorphic information content observed was 0.626. The results of this study indicated that the studied populations were genetically differentiated and polymorphic in nature.