Genetic diversity, population structure and selective sweeps in Italian Leccese chickens.

ABSTRACT: Italy hosts a rich heritage of poultry genetic resources, leading to the development of several unique native chicken breeds. Among them, the Leccese (LEC) chicken breed requires urgent genetic characterization to support conservation, development, and sustainable use. This study assessed the genetic diversity and population structure of the LEC chicken breed using the 600 K Affymetrix SNP array, comparing it with 25 Italian indigenous breeds and four commercial lines. In addition, selection signatures were explored through runs of homozygosity and integrated haplotype score analyses. The observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, and minor allele frequency in LEC were 0.343, 0.358, and 0.268, respectively. The inbreeding coefficient based on observed versus expected homozygosity wa

SUBMITTER: Saleh MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12767832 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature