Jun Wang , Qibin Xu

Animal Science Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/ijmeb.2025.15.0002
Received: 10 Dec., 2024    Accepted: 14 Jan., 2025    Published: 24 Jan., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Wang J., and Xu Q.B., 2025, Comparative genomics of galliformes and the evolutionary dynamics of domesticated chickens, International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity, 15(1): 10-28 (doi: 10.5376/ijmeb.2025.15.0002)

Galliformes birds include pheasants, partridges, quails, turkeys, etc., which are relatively primitive and diverse groups on the avian evolutionary tree. In recent years, with the development of high-throughput sequencing and comparative genomics, a large number of Galliformes genomes have been analyzed, providing an unprecedented opportunity for in-depth study of their phylogenetic relationships, domestication history and functional gene evolution. This study reviews the basic characteristics of Galliformes genomes and cross-species comparative datasets, summarizes the latest phylogenetic analysis results and species divergence time estimates, and focuses on the dynamic changes in the genome of domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) during domestication, including the reshaping of genetic diversity, gene introgression from wild relatives, and genomic selection pressure caused by artificial breeding. The evolutionary trajectories of functional genes related to important economic traits of domestic chickens are further compared, and the key gene variations and their origins that affect the appearance, behavior, physiology and other traits of domestic chickens are listed. Finally, the progress of regional comparative genomic research is discussed using the East Asian domestic chicken lineage as an example, revealing the genetic structure of Chinese native breeds, evidence of multi-origin domestication and adaptive evolution mechanisms. This study uses systematic comparative genomic analysis to reveal the evolution of Galliformes genomes and the molecular mechanisms behind chicken domestication, providing a theoretical basis and reference framework for poultry breeding and resource protection.

Galliformes; Comparative genomics; Phylogeny; Chicken domestication; Functional gene evolution