Tharparker Indian peafowl (pavo cristatus) genetic architecture; explored by mitochondrial DNA d-loop marker

Abstract

The blue peafowl from the genus Pavo is the largest species among both of its wild and domestic types, which is widely distributed in the habitats of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The aim of this study is to have an insight of molecular diversity and phylogenetic analysis of Pavo cristatus on the basis of mitochondrial D-loop region. A total of six samples were collected from the Lahore Zoo and Safari Park Lahore. The whole genome was extracted by using standard protocol with minor modification. PCR amplification was done by using a set of mitochondrial D loop primer. Codon Code Aligner 5.1.5 was used for the sequence alignment and data analysis. Three C/T heterozygous loci were found at position 168, 170 and 223. One A/G heterozygous locus was observed at position 234. One insertion of A at 137, one transversion C>G at 190 and three transition mutation were observed at position 206, 222 and 236 respectively. Phylogenetic analysis was performed with the help of MEGA 6 software using neighbor joining method which revealed that our individuals are closely related with the Japanese Pavo cristatus. Moreover, this Japanese and Pakistan species sharing their common ancestor. Our samples are clearly placed themselves in one clade while all other related species are in another clade which predict the substantial divergence between Pakistani and other studies D loop regions of peacocks.