Journal of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine

This research was conducted on three strains of Nigerian indigenous chicken with nucleotide sequences retrieved from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The translated sequences were also used to model the possible tertiary structure of the proteins they encode for; this was done on the Swiss model server. Multiple sequence alignment analyses and evolutionary relatedness among the sequences identify the shared patterns that may determine their structure and functionality. Having determined the physicochemical properties of the proteins, their structure and their phylogenetic relatedness, the subcellular location was further predicted as this identifies the site in which the protein functions. The Mx1 (Myxovirus resistance 1) protein is pivotal in the defense against viral infection. The structures of observed similarities and variants in the structure of the Mx1 protein were obtained, and similarities and variants in structure, and to fully understand the factors responsible for the variant, secondary structures prediction was carried out. Variation among the Mx1 protein may have been a result of environmental factors owing to how different strains are exposed to environmental conditions. Variation in structure may also result from environmental factors owing to the fact that these strains of chickens may have been exposed to different environmental conditions throughout their phylogenic history, which may have influenced the structure of the protein. These variations could be because of mutations and adaption over the years. The phylogenetic tree showing genetic relatedness in the Mx1 gene among chickens studied revealed low genetic distance, indicating that the four strains are closely related. The variations in genetic differentiation were not significantly observed across poultry breeds; this state states the genetic relatedness of Mx1 protein in the four strains. Genetic difference in the Mx1 gene among strains used in this study ranges from 0.574-0.751. Normal feather had the highest value of 0.751, followed by Noiler (0.744), Naked neck (0.601) and Frizzle feather (0.574) respectively. The amino acid sequence also shows that the sequence of the strains was been has been maintained by natural selection and is conserved to maintain the structure or function of a protein. The findings of this study reveal a strong grasp of the genetic resemblance of the Mx1 protein among the four. Breeders should incorporate knowledge of genetic variation in the Mx1 protein among chicken strains into breeding strategies, taking the full potential of the strains studied.