863 genomes reveal the origin and domestication of chicken
Open accessAbstract
Despite the substantial role that chickens have played in human societies across the world, both the geographic and temporal origins of their domestication remain controversial. To address this issue, we analyzed 863 genomes from a worldwide sampling of chickens and representatives of all four species of wild jungle fowl and each of the five subspecies of red jungle fowl (RJF). Our study suggests that domestic chickens were initially derived from the RJF subspecies Gallus gallus spadiceus whose present-day distribution is predominantly in southwestern China, northern Thailand and Myanmar. Following their domestication, chickens were translocated across Southeast and South Asia where they interbred locally with both RJF subspecies and other jungle fowl species. In addition, our results show that the White Leghorn chicken breed possesses a mosaic of divergent ancestries inherited from other subspecies of RJF. Despite the strong episodic gene flow from geographically divergent lineages of jungle fowls, our analyses show that domestic chickens undergo genetic adaptations that underlie their unique behavioral, morphological and reproductive traits. Our study provides novel insights into the evolutionary history of domestic chickens and a valuable resource to facilitate ongoing genetic and functional investigations of the world's most numerous domestic animal.
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The chicken domestication process began within the distribution of G. gallus spadiceus in Southeast Asia.
“This result suggests that the chicken domestication process began within the distribution of this subspecies in Southeast Asia (Fig. 1 and SI Appendix, Fig S1).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
Gallus gallus spadiceus is the most likely progenitor of domestic chickens.
“A more recent study analyzed 863 genomes from modern Gallus specimens, including all five subspecies of red junglefowl, and identified the subspecies Gallus gallus spadiceus as the most likely progenitor of domestic chickens (16).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
The first chickens were likely derived from a population of the subspecies G. gallus spadiceus, whose current range spans southwestern China, northern Thailand, and Myanmar.
“The first chickens were likely derived from a population of the subspecies G. gallus spadiceus, whose current range spans southwestern China, northern Thailand, and Myanmar (16) (Fig.1).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
These ancestral affinities are the result not of a local, independent domestication process, but of admixture with introduced domestic chickens derived from G. gallus spadiceus.
“these ancestral affinities are the result not of a local, independent domestication process, but the result of admixture with introduced domestic chickens derived from G. gallus spadiceus (16).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
Modern domestic chickens in South Asia possess signatures associated with the local subspecies G. gallus murghi.
“modern domestic chickens in South Asia possess signatures associated with the local subspecies G. gallus murghi”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
The current archaeobotanical evidence indicates that sites with rice cultivation appeared within the distribution of G. gallus spadiceus from about 2000 BCE in southern Yunnan and northeast Thailand.
“The current archaeobotanical evidence indicates that sites with rice cultivation appeared within the distribution of G. gallus spadiceus [the subspecies recently identified as the most likely progenitor of chickens (16)] from about 2000 BCE in two regions: southern Yunnan and northeast Thailand (Fig. 3 and SI Appendix, Table S4).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
The first appearance in peninsular Southeast Asia of both rice and unambiguous domestic chickens is consistent with the recent conclusion that domestic chickens were derived from the subspecies G. gallus spadiceus.
“Archaeologically, the first appearance in peninsular Southeast Asia of both rice and unambiguous domestic chickens is also consistent with the recent conclusion that domestic chickens were derived from the subspecies G. gallus spadiceus (16).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [16]
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References 82 · Cited by 286
- Authors
- Wang, M.-S., Thakur, M., Peng, M.-S., Jiang, Y., Frantz, L. A. F., Li, M., Zhang, J.-J., Wang, S., Peters, J., Otecko, N. O., Suwannapoom, C., Guo, X., Zheng, Z.-Q., Esmailizadeh, A., Hirimuthugoda, N. Y., Ashari, H., Suladari, S., Zein, M. S. A., Kusza, S., Sohrabi, S., Kharrati-Koopaee, H., Shen, Q.-K., Zeng, L., Yang, M.-M., Wu, Y.-J., Yang, X.-Y., Lu, X.-M., Jia, X.-Z., Nie, Q.-H., Lamont, S. J., Lasagna, E., Ceccobelli, S., Gunwardana, H. G. T. N., Senasige, T. M., Feng, S.-H., Si, J.-F., Zhang, H., Jin, J.-Q., Li, M.-L., Liu, Y.-H., Chen, H.-M., Ma, C., Dai, S.-S., Bhuiyan, A. K. F. H., Khan, M. S., Silva, G. L. L. P., Le, T.-T., Mwai, O. A., Ibrahim, M. N. M., Supple, M., Shapiro, B., Hanotte, O., Zhang, G., Larson, G., Han, J.-L., Wu, D.-D., & Zhang, Y.-P.
- Affiliations
- Zoological Survey of India (IN)
- Kunming Institute of Zoology (CN)
- Northwest A&F University (CN)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Bavarian Natural History Collections (DE)
- University of Phayao (TH)
- Anhui Agricultural University (CN)
- Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman (IR)
- University of Ruhuna (LK)
- Indonesian Institute of Sciences (ID)
- University of Debrecen (HU)
- Iowa State University (US)
- University of Perugia (IT)
- China Agricultural University (CN)
- Bangladesh Agricultural University (BD)
- University of Agriculture Faisalabad (PK)
- University of Peradeniya (LK)
- International Livestock Research Institute (KE)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Dong-Dong
- Zhang, Ya-Ping
- ORCID
- Thakur, Mukesh
- Peng, Min-Sheng
- Jiang, Yu
- Frantz, Laurent Alain François
- Li, Ming
- Zhang, Jin-Jin
- Wang, Sheng
- Peters, Joris
- Otecko, Newton Otieno
- Suwannapoom, Chatmongkon
- Guo, Xing
- Esmailizadeh, Ali
- Ashari, Hidayat
- Kusza, Szilvia
- Sohrabi, Saeed
- Kharrati-Koopaee, Hamed
- Shen, Quan-Kuan
- Lamont, Susan Joy
- Lasagna, Emiliano
- Ceccobelli, Simone
- Zhang, Hao
- Jin, Jie-Qiong
- Chen, Hong-Man
- Ma, Cheng
- Khan, Muhammad Sajjad
- Supple, Megan
- Shapiro, Beth
- Hanotte, Olivier
- Zhang, Guojie
- Larson, Greger
- Han, Jian-Lin
- Wu, Dong-Dong
- Zhang, Ya-Ping
- Venue
- Cell Research
- Published
- 2020-06-25
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 693-701
- ISSN
- 1001-0602 (ISSN-L)
- 1748-7838
- PMC
- PMC7395088
- OpenAlex
- W3037642677
- Cited by
- 286
- References
- 82
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 40 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 12
- FWCI
- 22.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2020-07-20)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Università Politecnica delle Marche (Università Politecnica delle Marche) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Debrecen Electronic Archive (University of Debrecen) (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Livestock and Poultry Management
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- chicken domestication, red junglefowl, Gallus gallus spadiceus, White Leghorn, gene flow, genetic ancestry, genetic adaptation, avian evolution
- MeSH terms
- Domestication, Animals, Animals, Domestic, Asia, Chickens, Gene Pool, Geography, Phylogeny, Poultry, Selection, Genetic, Likelihood Functions, Genome, Animal Distribution
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