ONE SUBSPECIES OF THE RED JUNGLEFOWL (GALLUS-GALLUS GALLUS) SUFFICES AS THE MATRIARCHIC ANCESTOR OF ALL DOMESTIC BREEDS

The noncoding control region of the mitochondrial DNA of various galli naceous birds was studied with regard to its restriction fragment leng th polymorphism (RFLP) and sequences of the first 400 bases. Tandem du plication of the 60-base unit was established as a trait unique to the genus Gallus, which is shared neither by pheasants nor by quails. Unl ike its close ally Gallus varius (green junglefowl), the red junglefow l Gallus gallus is a genetically very diverse species; the 7.0% sequen ce divergence was seen between those from Thailand (G. g. gallus and G . g. spadiceus) and the other from the Indonesian island of Java (G. g . Bankiva). Furthermore, the divergence increased to 27.83% if each tr ansversion is regarded as an equivalent of 10 transitions. On the othe r hand, a mere 0.5-3.0% difference (all transitions) separated various domestic breeds of the chicken from two G. g. gallus of Thailand, thu s indicating a single domestication event in the area inhabited by thi s subspecies of the red junglefowl as the origin of all domestic breed s. Only transitions separated six diverse domesticated breeds. Neverth eless, a 2.75% difference was seen between RFLP type I breeds (White L eghorn and Nagoya) and a RFLP type VIII breed (Ayam Pelung). The above data suggested that although the mitochondrion of RFLP type V was the main contributor to domestication, hens of other RFLP types also cont ributed to this event.