This study was aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity of Egyptian native chickens by using mtDNA sequence polymorphism. A 546-bp fragment of the mtDNA D-loop region was sequenced for a total of 36 Egyptian native chickens with 14 reference sequences from DNA databank. Of the Egyptian chickens 5 haplotypes were identified. Haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity of the Egyptian native chickens were 0.5635±0.0845 and 0.00123± 0.00108, respectively. The Egyptian native chickens were distributed within one clade, which were closed to the haplotypes from Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Most of Egyptian native chickens were classified into the haplotype E1, which contains 63.9% of individuals followed by E4 (16.6%), E5 (11.1%), E2 (5.5%) and E3 (2.7%), respectively. These findings indicate that the maternal lineages was involved in the origin of domestic chicken in Egypt may have roots in Indian subcontinent and other Southeast Asia. The genetic information from this study will probably pave the way to further studies for evaluation, preservation and improvement of Egyptian native chickens as genetic resources in the future.

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In Japanese quails, plumage color mutations resulted in many quail’s varieties. Therefore, identifying the genetic and phenotypic variations between the available quail’s varieties could be effective to determine the appropriate egg/meat producing quail variety that suits the breeders’ demand. Thus, the present study aimed to detect the phenotypic differences between two different quail varieties, brown (BB) and white (WW) feathered quails, and their reciprocal crosses (BW & WB) over two successive generations. Body weights, carcass traits, and egg weights and quality were considered as basic phenotypic parameters for comparison. Genetically, the phenotypic differences were ascertained with the microsatellite markers used. Generally, small numbers of alleles (NA& Ne) were detected for the three microsatellites. However, among all quail’s populations, WW and WB had the greatest numbers but with lower heterozygosity levels (HO &He) compared to the BB and BW. This was confirmed with the positive high values of FIS. In conclusion: The phenotypic variations among BB, WW, BW and WB varieties were genetically ascertained with the genetic diversity analysis. Crossing is effective in improving quail’s performance. This investigation might provide a scientific basis for assessing and using the genetic resources of BB, WW, BW and WB in further genetic improvement program.

This study aimed to detect the phenotypic differences between the brown (BB) and white (WW) feathered quails and their reciprocal crosses (BW and WB) over two successive generations. The WW and cross quails, especially the BW, had the heaviest body weights, throughout the studied period, with significant variations between the two studied generations (P<0.05). Moreover, the WW and BW possessed the largest egg production during the F1, while in the F2, the BB had superiority among the studied quails with a prominent superiority of the F2 over the F1 (P<0.05). However, the F1 had higher egg weights than F2 with superiority of WW quails compared to the others (P<0.05). Also, the WW quails had the lowest lipid contents of the eggs. These phenotypic variations among the studied quails might be preliminarily explained by the results of the analyzed microsatellite markers despite the few markers used. The high variability among the BW and WB quails might be due to the larger number of alleles (NA and Ne) and the lower values of FIS with low heterozygosity levels (HO and He). Moreover, the BW and BB were the closest, while WB and WW were the farthest because of the high and low genetic identities and the high and low genetic distance between them, respectively. So the obtained results might introduce an initial scientific basis for evaluating and employing the genetic properties of BB, WW, BW, and WB quails in further genetic improvement program, and more microsatellite markers are recommended.