The Chantecler chicken, a unique Canadian indigenous breed, is well adapted to extremely cold environments. However, its genetic characteristics have not been well studied. Here, we analyzed the whole genomes of 10 Chantecler chickens and 121 worldwide chickens, which indicated that Chantecler chickens were derived from commercial chickens and exhibit a high level of inbreeding. Based on a genome-wide scan, we identified two vital candidate regions containing ME3 and ZNF536, which are related to fat metabolism and nervous system in cold adaptation, respectively. We also found that the genetic mechanism of cold adaptation in Chantecler chickens differed from that of chickens from other cold regions, such as northern China. Our study indicated that specialized commercial chickens in the early 20th century contained sufficient genetic diversity to adapt to extreme cold environments over a very short time. These findings enrich our understanding of the adaptive potential of commercial species.
Chantecler鸡，一种独特的加拿大地方鸡，能够很好的适应极端寒冷的环境。然而其遗传特征还没有被很好的研究。我们通过对10只Chantecler鸡和121只世界各地鸡的基因组分析发现其来源于商品鸡且近交程度很高。基于全基因组扫描，我们确定了两个分别包含ME3基因和ZNF536基因的重要候选区域，它们分别与寒冷适应中的脂肪代谢和神经系统有关。我们还发现，Chantecler鸡适应寒冷的遗传机制与其他寒冷地区（如中国北方）的鸡不同。我们的研究表明，20 世纪早期特定的商品鸡携带足够多的遗传多样性，使其能够在很短的时间内适应极端寒冷的环境。这些发现丰富了我们对商品化物种适应性潜力的理解。.
Keywords: Chantecler chickens; Cold adaptation; ME3; Whole-genome resequencing; ZNF536.