The idiosyncratic genome of Korean long-tailed chicken as a valuable genetic resource

Dong-Jae Youm; Byung June Ko; Donghee Kim; Myeongkyu Park; Sohyoung Won; Young Ho Lee; Bongsang Kim; Donghyeok Seol; Han-Ha Chai; Dajeong Lim; Choongwon Jeong; Heebal Kim

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106236

The idiosyncratic genome of Korean long-tailed chicken as a valuable genetic resource

iScience. 2023 Feb 18;26(3):106236. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106236. eCollection 2023 Mar 17.

Authors

Dong-Jae Youm¹, Byung June Ko¹, Donghee Kim², Myeongkyu Park³, Sohyoung Won^{3

4}, Young Ho Lee³, Bongsang Kim^{1

4}, Donghyeok Seol¹, Han-Ha Chai⁵, Dajeong Lim⁵, Choongwon Jeong², Heebal Kim^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
² School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
³ Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
⁴ eGnome, Inc, Seoul 05836, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Animal Genomics & Bioinformatics Division, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA 1500, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Today, breeds with ornamental traits such as exceptionally long tail feathers are economically valuable. However, the genetic basis of long-tail feathers is yet to be understood. To provide better understanding of long tail feathers, we sequenced Korean long-tailed chicken (KLC) genomes and compared them with genomes of other chicken breeds. We first analyzed the genome structure of KLC and its genomic relationship with other chickens and observed unique characteristics. Subsequently, we searched for genomic regions under selection. Feather keratin 1-like enriched region and several genes were found to have novel putative functions and effects on the long tail trait in KLC. Our findings support the value of KLC as a unique genetic resource and cast light on the genetic basis of long tail traits in avian species. We expect this novel knowledge to provide new genomic evidence and options for designing and implementing genetic improvements of ornamental chicken productivity through precision crossbreeding aids.

Keywords: Evolutionary biology; Genetics; Zoology.