Molecular Phylogeographic Analyses Provide a New Perspective on the Evolutionary Origin and History of Japanese Native Chickens

Japanese native chickens (JNC) are the most diverse breed group worldwide, but several aspects of their origin and history have not yet been clarified. To determine the evolutionary relationships of JNCs with the world’s native chickens, an overview of chicken domestication and the propagation of chickens on a global scale is provided. Subsequently, I focused on the origin of JNC in the Asian native chickens, a phylogenetic network on the basis of mitochondrial DNA from domestic chicken in continental Southeast Asia and East Asia was inferred and it revealed a geographic gradient from Southeast Asia to North China. Populations of the historical periphery of the Sinocultural sphere, including Japan and Korea, are derived from North Chinese population. This suggests that JNCs originated in North China or Korean Peninsula. Some JNC breeds, especially the cockfighting breed Shamo, are thought to have originated in Thailand, but these breeds were more closely related to the Chinese population compared with the Southeast Asian population.