Genomic insights into local adaptation of indigenous chickens

Indigenous chickens are an essential part of biodiversity and a vital protein resource to humans, yet global warming and environmental changes pose serious threats to their survival and productivity. Therefore, assessing population adaptive capacity under shifting environments is crucial for breeding resilient animals, and guiding conservation strategies. Here, we integrated ecological and whole-genome resequencing data from 1,022 chickens from 44 Chinese indigenous populations to reveal genomic signatures of local adaptation. From 87 agroclimatic variables, we identified eight dominant environmental factors including solar radiation, precipitation, diurnal temperature range, and five landcover variables (cropland areas, water areas, trees coverage, bare ground and shrubs coverage) that shape ecological niches of indigenous chickens. Landscape and comparative genomics analyses revealed both known and novel candidate genes, such as UNC80, PTPRO, NCOR2, CSF2RB, NXT2 and PALLD for the solar radiation, precipitation, diurnal temperature range, cropland areas, trees coverage and bare ground, respectively. Particularly, adaptive non-coding variants harbored in these genes exhibited spatial allelic changes across populations and acted as regulatory elements via chromatin accessibility and DNA methylation, influencing adaptation in a tissue-specific manner. Our findings underscore the rich genetic diversity of Chinese indigenous chickens and provide new insights into genomic mechanisms of local adaptation, offering valuable references for domestic animal breeding, conservation, and climate resilience.