Genetic variation of Burgo chicken from Bengkulu, Indonesia, based on the ND1-mitochondrial DNA gene

Burgo chicken Burgo chicken is one of the domesticated red jungle chickens found in Bengkulu Province, Indonesia. Taxonomically, the position of Burgo chicken as a subspecies, species or breed remains unclear due to the lack of supporting data, highlighting the need for further taxonomic identification. We identified two specific sites, 52 and 375, representing single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the ND1 gene, with a gene sequence length of 450bp. Three haplotypes were detected in Burgo chickens, with haplotype 2 shared between Burgo chicken, Gallus gallus (Java) and G. gallus bankiva. The average genetic distance in the Burgo chicken population was 0.1%. When compared to other chicken populations, the average distance was 0.12%, while the distance to other Gallus spp. was 3.62%. All Burgo chickens formed the same clade in the phylogenetic tree, although two individuals (C2F3ND1 and K4F2ND1) showed slight differences. These two individuals were found in Rejang Lebong and Kepahiang, two nearby locations, indicating the possibility that a meeting occurred. Genetic differences within Burgo chickens from Bengkulu, and with other chickens in Indonesia and various parts of the world, were present but not significant. Our data show that Burgo chickens may exhibit differences from other chickens in Indonesia and globally. However, although the genetic data revealed some divergence in mitochondrial DNA, additional morphological and morphometric analyses are needed to provide supporting evidence.