EVOLUTIONARY AND HAPLOTYPIC DIVERSITY STUDIES AMONG GAMBIAN \
Keywords:
Gambia, Togo, Chicken, diversity, mtDNAAbstract
Gambia and Togo are among the smallest in terms of geographic size, of the sixteen-member block of Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS). Like the rest of Africa, not much is known about the evolution and molecular genetic signatures of the indigenous chicken populations of the two countries. To achieve this, genomic DNA was extracted from a total of 40 village chickens of both countries using FTA cards, following standard protocols. Sanger sequencing of the D-loop amplicons of the mtDNA was outsourced to StabVida Laboratory, Portugal, using specific primers. Multiple alignments of a final length of 920bp of the sequences with a reference sequence reveals 8 SNPs. Reconstruction of evolutionary origins using MEGA 7 and NETWORK 4.6 matrix suggests that Gambian and Togolese chickens are most likely of south Asian descent. Molecular indices revealed that the chickens in the two populations are of comparatively lower genetic diversity, nonetheless, the Gambian population was slightly more diverse than the Togolese. This finding may be employed in the genetic conservation strategies for the chickens in the two countries.