Ej. Smith et al., USE OF RANDOMLY AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA MARKERS FOR THE GENETIC-ANALYSIS OF RELATEDNESS AND DIVERSITY IN CHICKENS AND TURKEYS, Poultry science, 75(5), 1996, pp. 579-584
A study involving the use of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) w
as conducted to evaluate genetic polymorphism and relatedness within a
nd among four chicken breeds: Araucona, Rhode Island Red, White Leghor
n, and White Plymouth Rock, and two turkey populations, a long-term ra
ndombred and a commercial strain. A total of 60 random primers were us
ed in the RAPD analyses. Forty-two of the 60 primers tested amplified
patterns with at least one polymorphic fragment in one or more of the
populations. Six of these 42 primers amplified polymorphic fragments i
n each of the six strains with a within- and between-population averag
e band-sharing frequency of less than one but above zero (P < 0.05). D
ifferences among the six primers for genetic distance (D) among popula
tions were significant (P < 0.05). A consensus dendogram was therefore
developed to show the phylogenetic relationships among the population
s. As expected, estimates of D between populations were lowest within
species and highest between species. The results provide evidence of t
he applicability of RAPD to determining genetic relatedness within and
among different poultry populations and in developing reproducible ma
rkers useful in evaluating individual variation in chickens and turkey
s.