Complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of Huangshan Black chicken (Gallus gallus)

Abstract

In this study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the Huangshan Black chicken (HBC). Results showed that the complete HBC mitogenome was 16,785 bp in size, comprising 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and 1 non-coding control region (D-loop). The overall nucleotide composition was 32.5% for C, 30.3% for A, 23.7% for T, and 13.5% for G. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the HBC mitogenome was clustered with Xianju chicken, which belonged to the haplogroup D2. Our results therefore demonstrate that the origin of HBC corresponds to haplogroup D2 distribution and might have at least one maternal lineage originated from Southeast Asia.