Abstract
Different phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses were performed for Jordan indigenous chickens and its genetic relatedness to available commercial broiler chickens based on DNA sequencing. The sequence of 0.5 kb from sixteen individuals of the indigenous chicken, Ross, Lohaman and Hubbard Broiler was performed. Maximum Composite Likelihood (MCL) Method was considered as the best substitution pattern test of homogeneity between sequences to compute evolutionary distances between studied populations. The shortest evolutionary distance was found between Hubbard and Ross chickens revealing their evolutionary closeness. On the other hand, Lohmman showed closer evolutionary distance to Hubbard than to Ross chicken. The longest evolutionary distance found between indigenous chicken and Ross, whereas the shortest evolutionary distance was with Lohmman broiler chicken. As a consequence, different phylogenetic trees were reconstructed providing evidences for a close phylogenetic alliance among commercial broiler and indigenous chickens. The genetic relatedness between the three commercial strains clustered them into one group away from the indigenous that was in separated cluster. However, there were different patterns of clustering for the three commercial populations forming different phylogenetic types. These results might be attributable to different models used for estimating evolutionary distances. Overall, the resulted evolutionary sequencing and phylogeny trees of studied broiler populations may help getting decisions on choosing best match for crossbreeding with the indigenous, taking into consideration climate change alarming in tropical areas. (C) 2013 Friends Science Publishers